


Two of Hearts

by Candynova



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Amaguji centric, Body Swap, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Redemption, im trying my best to mention every character, its 3am give me a break, rantaro amami deserves everything, talk of trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24831937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candynova/pseuds/Candynova
Summary: Something was amiss.From the first moment Korekiyo opened his eyes that morning he could tell something was wrong, or that he was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.Turns out he, and all the other students, had swapped bodies with another.
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Shinguji Korekiyo, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Shirogane Tsumugi/Yonaga Angie
Comments: 82
Kudos: 396





	1. Motive Start

**Author's Note:**

> aaaannnddd here we go! After a year and a half of not writing any fics of my comfort ship i've written 2 in 2 days. booyah. this is basically a way to pass the time at like 3am because my insomnia and fixation on these two will not let me rest. I really really hate my presentation of them in this chapter, it shall get better i promise <3 also uhh comments and stuff help motivate me to write more than anything bc i like to know if yall are actually enjoying the concept and stuff!

Something was amiss.

From the first moment Korekiyo opened his eyes that morning he could tell something was wrong, or that he was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. His room was different. This wasn’t the room he fell asleep in the night before. Clothes were thrown over chairs and the floor, books and pens were scattered over the desk and very little of the room was left clean and kept. 

There was no way for this to be Korekiyo’s room. Indeed, it had the same layout, but Korekiyo was sure that every room in the building they were trapped in had the same layout. The man knew that he would never let his living space get to such a state. Korekiyo prided himself in his order and tidiness and he would not let that fall. 

Korekiyo got up from the bed immediately. For some reason, he felt… unbalanced.. Almost as if he had shrunk overnight. With some quick detective work Korekiyo saw the names on the books littering the desk. 

‘Rantaro Amami’. 

So, under mysterious circumstances Korekiyo had landed himself in Amami’s room. Obviously there must be a normal explanation for such a thing. Perhaps Amami was just in the bathroom adjoined to his room and would come out and inform Korekiyo of the mysterious situation he was in. 

Korekiyo made his way towards the bathroom. There didn’t seem to be anyone occupying it. He let himself into the smaller room and realised that Amami was in fact nowhere to be found. 

Or well.. Perhaps .. the actual Amami was nowhere to be found.

Because horrifyingly, the face that stared back at Korekiyo as he looked into the mirror above the sink was none other than Amami himself. 

Now. Obviously this was an extreme shock to the unsuspecting Korekiyo, but the more he stared at .. himself .. in the mirror the more he saw that he in fact did look exactly like Rantaro Amami. Korekiyos new appearance partnered with the fact that he had woken up in Amamis room had his thoughts spinning.

The conclusion seemed obvious but it all seemed too otherworldly to be true. It seemed more like an elaborate prank than something that was actually happening.

Somehow, Korekiyo was now in Rantaro Amami’s body.

He knew for a fact that he needed to find Amami immediately. Was Amami in the same position as him? Perhaps in Korekiyos body? 

Korekiyo was ready to set off to find the other man until he realised that the only thing he (Amami? Was he Amami now?) had on was a loose Shirt and some boxer shorts - which made sense in a way as he had just got up and obviously was not expected to be fully dressed. 

Korekiyo pulled on Amami’s signature shirt and some jeans that had been thrown across the desk chair. By all accounts he hoped they were clean…  
Now that he was finally sufficiently dressed he headed out the room to find the real Amami and clear off all suspicions once and for all. 

As Korekiyo headed out , he did in fact see a confirmation that he was previously in Amamis room by checking the door plate next to it. So if Amami and Korekiyo had switched it would mean that Amami is currently in Korekiyos room. Korekiyo luckily knew where his room was situated.

Korekiyo saw nobody else while he was on his way to his own room. Maybe if somebody had been roaming around Korekiyo could’ve asked if he did indeed present as Amami, but alas. Before long Korekiyo found himself knocking on the door. He internally prayed that Amami would be inside.

His prayers were answered. The door was hesitantly opened to show a.. Scared looking Korekiyo. Only this wasn’t Korekiyo, This was Amami. 

Seeing his own face stare at him was certainly not a pleasant sight, but it seemed as if Amami was more preoccupied by gaping at Korekiyo with wide eyes. 

Actually, it's not that surprising that Amami was stunned, he was also seeing his own face look back at him.

Korekiyo cleared his throat.  
“Amami, as you have guessed we probably need to talk” he said.  
The voice that came out of Korekiyos throat was distinctly Amami’s. It was very odd.

Amami nodded and motioned for Korekiyo to come inside. If not in this situation Korekiyo may have found it humorous , being let into his own room like this. 

The two of them sat down on different chairs placed in the room, as unlike Amamis room the chairs didn't have clothes strewn on them. 

“So.. we’ve switched, right?” Amami asked, as if confirming it for himself.

“I believe so.” Korekiyo stated.

The two stared at each other in an uncomfortable silence for a little while until Amami spoke up again. 

“Do you think this happened to the others? I mean.. It would be weird for this to happen to just us two right?” he enquired.

“If you wish we can go and find someone outside to ask. I must say though that i couldn't find anybody around as i made my way here” was the answer from Korekiyo.

Amami nodded and looked off into the distance, as if lost in thought.

“Amami, are you alright?” Korekiyo asked.

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah i'm fine.I was just thinking about how weird this whole thing is..... Also, please just call me Rantaro - If we’re stuck in each other's bodies there's no point for formalities really.” was the reply. 

Korekiyo gave a nod of confirmation. It struck him that Rantaro wasnt wearing the mask korekiyo always did.

“Where is my mask?” Korekiyo implored.

“By the bedside table I think. I tried putting it on but it got super uncomfortable, sorry.” Rantaro explained.

“When we go out I request you put the mask on.” Korekiyo replied. 

Rantaro gave a little shrug.

“Fair enough.”

The two made their way out to the hallway not long after. Their current biggest hope was to find someone and figure out if this situation was universal. 

Their luck had won out on this occasion, because as soon as they stepped foot in the dining room they were greeted by none other than Kaede Akamatsu.

“Kaede!” Rantaro called out, only realising afterwards that to Kaede it must seem as if Korekiyo is calling her name. 

Kaede turned around and sent a hard glare to the direction of the men. 

“What’s going on.” were the only words that left Kaedes lips.

Or perhaps.. Not Kaede?

“Oh my god have you also switched?” Rantaro asked. Obviously coming from Korekiyos body this must’ve seemed very out of character to the girl, but she didn't comment on it.

Korekiyo tried a more upfront approach  
“Who are you?” he quizzed.

“What do you mean, who am i?” was the response from the blonde.

“Just give us your name. Your actual name, not the body you’re in.” Korekiyo demanded yet again.

“Maki Harukawa” Was the simple response, there was a scowl plastered on her face however. 

“I see. So Maki and Kaede must’ve switched too. So this is happening to everyone then?” Rantaro pondered “We should probably gather everyone here to sort things out” he finished.

Korekiyo nodded in agreement.  
“Yes, that would be sensible.”

The two men and Maki knocked on the remaining students' doors. Many answered the door in varying states of shock and fear. The message was spread for everybody to gather in the dining hall ten minutes later.

Soon the group of students had gathered together. 

“So we’re in different fucking bodies?” came from Kirumi (which was soon discovered to actually have been Miu).

“It seems so..” Angie (or now Tsumugi) replied.

“I think it’s kinda fun!” said an excited sounding Shuichi (or an excited Kokichi as that was who was currently in charge of the body).

“Yeah.. I don't like this” a bothered looking Ryoma (Kaito) complained.

“We should try our best to figure out how this happened!” Maki (Kaede) exclaimed.

However, they didn't need to wonder for much longer as a voice started ringing from the side of the room.

“Pupupu! How wonderful to see you all here! I see you're all enjoying my first motive!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah I've updated the fic... a day after a uploaded the first chapter? I'm on a roll! perhaps my 1am writing motivation is leading to something. This whole fic may be messy at times as I only touch my writing late at night but hey that's ok. Again, any comments mean the world to me as it actually makes me wanna write yknow? yeah, I'm very material when it comes to my motivation. anyway! enjoy!

Not long after this announcement a chorus of voices started filling the dining room, most panicking over each other. 

“Now, it isn't nice to speak over your headteacher” the voice complained.

This voice, of course, came from none other than Monokuma himself. The very man (or bear?) that had trapped them into this building and had most likely gotten them into this situation. 

The students quickly became silent to listen to what Monokuma had to tell them.

“Ahem. as you may have noticed , you guys have ended up in a veryyy interesting state. You are now inside the body of another student! How exciting!” Monokuma grinned - It was an extremely sinister grin but a grin all the same. 

“Tell us how to change back. I cannot stay like this! My tits are tiny!” rang out the voice of Kirumi (or as they had previously established, the actual culprit was now Miu).

“To change back? I see! Well, the answer is simple… you must kill!” Monokuma exclaimed gleefully. 

Several panicked murmurs began to rise up again. They had all deep down knew that this was what was meant by ‘motive’, but none of them wanted to believe it was true. 

“So, we stay in these bodies until someone is dead?” Shuichi called from inside Kokichis body.

“Precisely!” Monokuma confirmed. 

“Do we switch before the trial? If the killer is in a different body than their own will the other person die too?” Ryoma's voice questioned (or now, Kaito). 

“Only the culprit shall be executed, I'll be certain of that. Nobody should worry though! After all, the aim is to graduate!” Monokuma affirmed.

It was probably not the best idea to believe the bears promise, but the students couldn’t do much else. 

“Hey hey hey! You guys are already talking like you want to kill! We can't do that.” Said Maki, stepping forward. Of course ‘Maki’ was actually Kaede, who in her usual fashion wanted to lead and keep a positive attitude. 

“Wellll.. I’ll leave that decision up to you guys! If you don't want to kill make sure to get very comfortable in these new bodies of yours.” Monkuma cackled.

With that, the bear disappeared as quick as he had arrived, leaving only the shocked 16 students. 

The group stared at each other in silence. Every person in the room seemed to be judging the other, almost as if everyone was seeing how likely the others would be to murder. 

Finally, Kaede spoke up again.

“We can’t let this get to us. There must be a way to fix this without death, we cannot give up and go as far as murder!” She exclaimed. 

“So what do you propose Kaede?” Came the voice of Shuichi from the crowd, arms crossed and with a cocky smile on his face.

It took Kaede a bit to realise that it was in fact Kokichi saying this, and not Shuichi. 

“There must be a reason we're here.. A creator.. A mastermind. Whatever it may be, if we get to them and stop them then we may stop this!” Kaede replied. She was not going to let her optimism fade.

“What if there is nobody? Or what if we stop the so-called mastermind and still stay like this? What then?” Kokichi crowed. 

Kaede furrowed her brow. Why was Kokichi making this hard for her? It was even worse because it looked like it was Shuichi saying this to her due to this stupid body swap. 

“What if until we figure this out, we stay with the other person we’ve swapped with? This way we’d at least be safe” suggested Tsumugi, from inside Angie's body.

“That sounds like an idea we can start with!” Kaede agreed.

There was some mumbling and nodding from the others. Everyone agreed it would be best to stay with someone, a killing may be prevented if there's someone there.

“If I may cut in, what would the situation be at night? Would everyone share a room?” Korekiyo pondered.

“There’s only one bed in a room..” Himiko complained, it seemed like the small redhead was still not getting a grasp of the situation at hand and the fact that she was now in the body of Tenko. 

“We’ll figure these things out! I think it would be best to share a room with your partner for precaution, but i'm sure beds can be moved around!” Kaede comforted. 

Once everybody agreed that they must stay with the person they had switched with, the group started to disband and leave in their designated pairs.

Rantaro stepped over to Korekiyo.  
“So, my room or yours?” Rantaro asked, voice slightly muffled due to the fact that he wasn't used to the mask covering his face.

“I believe my room would be a better option, mine is slightly tidier as of now” was Korekiyos reply.

Rantaro nodded. Korekiyos room was not only tidier but also smelled nicer. It was only a little detail but it’s probably just due to the fact that Korekiyo himself had a strong, nice smell - it was a bit like green tea. 

Rantaro realised he had been spacing out for a bit. This luckily wouldn’t be thought of as too weird, considering that lots had happened that morning and it's only natural for people to space out and think about it.. Right?  
Well, thinking about the smell of Korekiyo probably didn't relate to the disasters of this morning too much.. but all the same. 

“What do you wanna do now?” Rantaro asked.  
“I don't have any specific activities in mind” Was the response from Korekiyo.

Aright. Slightly awkward.

“Hey, if we’re going to be spending god knows how long together from now on, how about we get to know each other some more?” Rantaro suggested. 

“If that’s what you wish” was the reply.

Rantaro decided to not overthink the answer too much, Korekiyo probably didn't even know he was being blunt. The man wasn’t the best at social cues and Rantaro understood that. 

The two made their way up to Korekiyos room. Rantaro knew the one thing both boys had for common in certain was travel, so he decided to strike up a conversation about the best places he’d been. Thankfully Korekiyo seemed invested in this. Ranatro liked how he would speed up his speech slightly whenever he was extremely excited about a topic and how the man would scrunch up his nose whenever there was something he disagreed with that he was explaining. 

It felt nice to hear Korekiyo speak freely. The man didn’t seem as reserved as he was previously right now. Perhaps it's the atmosphere of being in the room or perhaps it just due to the fact that Korekiyo no longer had a mask over his mouth, so Rantaro could easily see the expressions Korekiyo was making. Back when korekiyo was in his own body, the man was always very cautious on the subject of his mask, but he now seemed to not even remember the fabric that used to obscure his face.

Sure, it was weird to look at the man you're talking to and see yourself stare back, but Rantaro grew used to it.

Korekiyos stories were extremely interesting. Sure, Rantaro enjoyed traveling, but he would never pick up on some of the stuff Korekiyo was telling him now.

The culture, the food, the small things like the soap used in certain countries.. Korekiyo had a story to tell about it all. 

Before they knew it, the day was approaching to evening.

Rantaro couldn’t even find himself caring about the fact he forgot to eat lunch. He greatly enjoyed himself just listening to Korekiyo speak. 

Perhaps staying with this man wouldn’t be so bad.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UHHH gimme some of that Tsumugi and Korekiyo friendship!! my biggest kink is seeing Korekiyo happy and cared for. also some Shironaga if u squint because I am so so soft for them (i'll try build up on them I promise). Anyway yet again it is 2am and I am on about 7 hours of sleep totalled from this whole week so I apologise for any mistakes!! Comments help me out big time so if u have any spare time feel free to drop a few words ^^

Dinner was easy enough.

All the students sat in the dining hall and helped themselves to the food Kirumi had made. It was lucky that Kirumi found no issues with her usual maid duties, even though she was in Mius body. Some of the others had found themselves some struggles while trying to do things with their talent (for example, Maki’s fingers were not as trained up to piano as Kaedes were, so they weren't fluid enough for Kaedes favorite pieces) but all in all people were learning to cope in their new situation.

They were all somehow enjoying themselves right now. Perhaps it’s just the atmosphere of them all eating and chatting together but the students could feel themselves become secure with one another. Of course, there were some exceptions and people who just couldn’t settle down right away , but the majority were feeling content.

With a safe feeling like this it seems very unlikely that anyone would kill after all. 

However, one of the people that couldn’t quite settle was Korekiyo. It wasn’t that he felt the others were hostile, not at all , it’s just the fact that he couldn’t learn to trust others so quickly. He already felt too open now without his mask. He couldn’t hide his uncomfort as much as he would have liked.

Due to this, Rantaro saw that Korekiyo was not having the best time. Rantaro sent a quizzing glance over to Korekiyo, which the other man chose to pretend he hadn't seen. Korekiyo didn’t want to ruin Rantaro’s fun. It was true that everyone else was really enjoying themselves and korekiyo didn't want to be that guy to ruin it.

But it all just felt like too much.

All of this reminded him how little he actually knew. He didn't know how to socialise. He didn't know how to make friends. He didn't know how to talk to people. 

*She* had taken it all away from him. 

Korekiyo could feel his heartbeat increasing and his breathing rate rise. Usually, if he had his mask, he could hide beneath it and let this pass without anyone realising, but right now that didn't seem to be an option. 

Rantaro was certainly noticing that Korekiyo was panicking. Korekiyo felt even worse about himself. He didn't wish to push his problems onto others. 

“Thank you so much for the meal Kirumi! I think me and Kiyo are gonna head back for the night now!” Rantaro said, smiling.

Kirumi nodded gracefully (A weird action when seen on Mius' body). The others at the table all gave a chorus of “Bye!”s and “Good night!”s. Tsumugi and Angie also stood up and requested to take their leave too. 

The two pairs made their way out the doorway. Korekiyo felt awful. He had forced Rantaro out of there when he was obviously enjoying himself. As the groups were going to turn their different corners a voice spoke up.

“Oh, Korekiyo! Could I have a word quickly?”

It took Korekiyo a moment to place who was actually speaking. The voice that rang out was Angie, but that must mean it’s actually Tsumugi.

“If you wish.” Korekiyo replied. 

Tsumugi walked over to Korekiyo. Rantaro politely dipped slightly further down the corridor, as to not listen in.

“Uh, well.. I noticed you struggling over there.. I know you may be feeling uncomfortable without a mask. I just could tell you weren’t happy with something and it seemed logical to me..” Tsumugi trailed of slight, as if considering her next words.

“Indeed, no longer having a garment to cover my face is not optimal for me” Korekiyo assured, hoping that would give the girl some confidence to finish her sentence.

“Ah, yes. So.. I may not be the most talented person, but there is one thing I'm very good at which is making clothes for my cosplays. I could probably.. Make you a new Mask that fits to your new face shape…. If you wish ” Tsumugi suggested. From the way she was saying it , it seemed like she had considered this for a little while.

Korekiyo gave a little smile.  
“I would really like that” he replied

Tsumugi gave a determined nod.  
“Great! I’d need to take some quick measurements whenever and then i can get one done!” she exclaimed excitedly. It seemed like she had her own little project to work on now. 

Just as she was about to turn away she quickly looked back.  
“Oh! And would you want it looking like your old one or would you want some patterns on it? I'm sure Angie would love to mess around with some designs!” Tsumugi enquired.

“Surprise me” Was Korekiyo’s confirmation. He hoped the Ultimate artist and cosplayer wouldn’t leave him with something too ashaming to wear. 

Tsumugi beamed and hurried down the corridor to get back to Angie. At least the two of them seemed to be getting along. It was nice to see that others were building friendships from their situation. 

Korekiyo also made his way back to Rantaro, who was waiting against a wall a little bit away. As soon as Rantaro noticed Korekiyo coming over he shot him a smile.

“You good?” Rantaro asked.

“Yes. Indeed I am. Tsumugi just wanted to know if i wanted a new mask.” Korekiyo explained. 

Rantaro laughed.  
“That’s really nice of her! I'm glad you're getting along with people” he remarked.

Korekiyo nodded, a smile slowly creeping onto his face too. Perhaps it's the idea that someone else was thinking about him and cared that made him feel happier.  
Which led him to his original point of discomfort.

He didn't know how to act when people were friendly. How does somebody go about forming a friendship? It was beyond him. 

Rantaro must’ve sensed the sudden mood drop.

“Hey, you alright?” Rantaro implored.

“Are we considered as friends?” was all korekiyo could think to say in that moment.

Stupid.

They had been talking properly for around a day. How on earth could that determine if they were friends.

“For sure!” Rantaro replied “Is that what you were stressed about? Of course we’re friends dude”

Korekiyo looked at Rantaro, properly this time. 

“Are you sure?” Korekiyo checked.

“Totally man. I feel like there is something else weighing on you too, but i’ll leave you to tell me that in your own time, for now do you want to return to the room and perhaps discuss some scary folktales and stuff? I love those!” Rantaro grinned.

Korekiyo smiled.

“I would love to.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters r character n relationship building so excuse that.. plots n trynna solve this body issue will come up, hold tight! It's become my routine to write this every night now - as soon as the clock hits 12 I'm like ayoo writing time!! It's weird to think people are reading my late night thoughts, I hope you guys are enjoying it though! Yet again comments r like the best thing u can leave me as it shows me that people r reading this (suprises me, but pleasantly yknow…) anyway onto the actual chapter I ramble too much.

The first thing Korekiyo felt as he started to wake up was how disorientated he was. He scrunched his eyes up and tried to get back to sleep, but to no avail.

Korekiyo slowly opened his eyes, only to find a long dark green hair right in front of his face. 

Korekiyo didn't have much time to think what he was even doing before he quickly sat up. He looked properly at the body lying next to him and sighed.

Of course, last night the two of them chatted until the early hours of the morning and then got tired. Instead of dragging the other bed into the room late at night, they decided to cramp onto the one bed they had , deciding they would grab the other bed the next day. 

This certainly wasn't very in character for Korekiyo, but he’ll pass it off as the shock of the previous days happenings and his tiredness. 

The disorientated feeling he felt as he woke was also probably just him waking up in a body he was still unfamiliar with too.

Korekiyo got off the bed and found the clothes he was wearing yesterday. The jeans seemed fine but the shirt would need a change. Korekiyo decided to pull on one of his less formal shirts he had stocked away in his cupboard, after all it managed to fit the aesthetic of Rantaro well enough. 

Once changed Korekiyo looked over at the sleeping boy once again. It would probably be for the best to wake him, as it was nearing a time where it was usually acceptable to wake up. He guessed internal clocks had not changed in this body swap, as Korekiyos internal clock still woke him up around 6am as usual. 

Korekiyo stood over the boy.  
“Rantaro, I believe now is a good time to wake.” he announced. 

A small groan could be heard from Rantaro, whose voice was slightly muffled from trying to bury himself under the covers.

“Complaining won't help you get up” Korekiyo reasoned. 

Rantaro slowly emerged from under the covers with a mock scowl on his face.

“Ok fine I’m up! Im up!” Rantaro confirmed.

Korekiyo smiled and moved away from Rantaro to give him some privacy to change.

After a while Rantaro was fully dressed and came back next to Korekiyo.

“Your uniform is so damn hard to put on” Rantaro complained.

“You should start getting used to it.” Korekiyo recommended. Who knows how long they had to continue like this. 

Rantaro grumbled slightly, but none of it with ill intent. The two of them left the room and went over to go grab some breakfast and start their day. 

There was some commotion in the dining room. The two men could hear loud voices from the corridor outside.

Ranatro and Korekiyo gave each other a worried look, and without another word entered the room.  
They were greeted with an.. Interesting sight.

“Kokichi! Get down there!” Yelled a voice

Shuichi..no, Kokichi Ouma was hanging upside down from a rack that must've previously held some kind of decoration. The boy had his legs wrapped around a side of the shelf while his body hung off the other side, arms swinging next to his head. He was also wearing a shit-eating grin. 

“Im tall enough to get up here now Shumai!” Kokichi yelled gleefully. 

It certainly couldn’t be comfortable, Korekiyo could feel blood rushing to his head already just thinking about staying upside down like that for a while. 

“It’s not just you I'm worried about here. If you fall, that's my body that’s being ruined” Shuichi reasoned angrily. It probably didn't help that shuichi was now 5’1 with a mop of purple hair - he didn't really look very menacing. 

Kokichi pouted, still swaying his arms around.  
“But this is fuuuunnn..” the boy muttered.

Shuichi sighed and walked over to the upside-down boy, grabbing one of his arms.

Kokichi must’ve not expected this, as he quickly lost his balance and started to slip. Obviously shuichi must’ve sensed this as he quickly grabbed the other arm to make sure the other boy wouldn’t hurt himself.. Unfortunately this didn't work entirely to plan.

Kokichi fell on top of Shuichi with a grunt. Shuichi probably miscalculated his strength and ability to catch Kokichi in his new body.

Shuichi grimaced underneath kokichi and let out a weak “Ow..”.

The two lay in a little pile on the floor until Rantaro ran over to check if they were okay. As Rantaro lifted Kokichi off the small boy on the floor Kokichi wore a massive smile.

“Shuichi saved me!” He giggled.

Shuichi frowned and exhaled.  
“Just help me up” he complained. 

Kokichi did so. The two boys looked over at Rantaro and Korekiyo, who had been watching over this whole ordeal.

“Don’t.. Mention this later” Shuichi muttered.

Rantaro gave a sympathetic smile and with that the boys left the dining room, Shuichi trailing after Kokichi. 

There was a small silence as Korekiyo and Rantaro tried to process what they had just witnessed, and then Rantaro started laughing. Korekiyo looked over at the other fondly and also couldn’t stop himself from releasing a chuckle, It had been quite a hilarious sight after all.

“That was eventful” Rantaro remarked, still slightly out of breath from his laughing fit.

“It sure was” Korekiyo replied, smiling.

Luckily enough for them, the rest of their morning went fine with no extra problems along the way. After eating breakfast the two of them went around the school while chatting about whatever they could think about. At one point they were met by Kaito and Ryoma and the four of them had a small discussion before they branched off again. 

The morning was one of those mornings that are just.. Chilled. Almost like a filler episode you would find in an anime. Nothing to worry about, but moved the time along.

It was just what they needed, for time to pass by without them realising.

By the time afternoon rolled around they decided to go grab something small to eat. Korekiyo didn’t have much of an appetite but he would follow Rantaro to get some food anyway. 

That’s where they came across Angie and Tsumugi again.  
“Korekiyo!” Came a shout from Tsumugi.

Korekiyo faced the girl.  
“Good afternoon Shirogane” He greeted.

“Do you have the time to do some measurements right now? You know.. For the mask?” Tsumugi asked.

“Rantaro and I were about to head for lunch” Korekiyo answered.

“Could Tsumugi and I join? We were about to eat too!” Angie chirped.

“Don't see why not” Rantaro shrugged.

So the four of them ended up eating lunch together. To outsiders it may seem like an unlikely group of people to get along, but it somehow managed to fit very well. Angie had more knowledge of countries and culture than Korekiyo had ever thought she would have. Well, it made sense in a way.. She must’ve travelled a lot to get some perfect art shots. Tsumugi also surprisingly was very up to date on lots of culture and traditions.  
“I need to know everything about a certain culture and place before I cosplay a character who’s part of it. It’s to get into the role!” was what Tsumugi claimed excitedly while asked about it.

Korekiyo found himself really enjoying the company, he didn't even find himself minding when he got dragged along to Angie's room for measurements of his face by Tsumugi. 

“Angie has been drawing some of my cosplays!” Tsumugi proudly revealed as she gestured to canvases littered around their room. Korekiyo had to admit that the art was beautiful. How wonderful it was that humans could create such things. Rantaro was chatting to Angie about certain paintings and statues while Korekiyo was getting his measurements done. If these four were looked at from the outside, people may even say these are normal friends hanging out.

Of course, these weren’t just friends and they were held in a killing game against their will.. But this was perhaps the closest to a normal friendship blooming they could have. 

Tsumugi and Angie got the mask done much quicker than expected, even with all their chatting during the process. Korekiyo was left with a lovely navy blue mask that had silver stitching and a small version of the logo that was usually printed on Rantaro’s favorite shirt. 

It was perfect.  
Korekiyo thanked both girls gratefully as he put the mask on, he was pleased to say that it also fit more comfortably than his previous mask. The girls accepted his thanks and smiled.

“I'm glad you like it!” Tsumugi grinned. 

As Rantaro and Korekiyo finally emerged from the girls’ room, they were both very noticeably content with their day.

All things considered, it was as good as a day could be in a killing game. 

As they were making their way back, Rantaro decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while.

“Why do you wear the mask? Is it just to not show emotions?” he quizzed

Korekiyo looked over.  
“That is a main part, yes” 

“I liked seeing you express emotion.. It made you more human. It was nice to see when i made you laugh or smile” Rantaro admitted

Korekiyo considered that.

“The mask also helps me feel closer to my sister. My previous one was made by her, so whenever I wore it it felt like she was right there” Korekiyo mentioned.

“I take it you guys were close?” Rantaro commented

“Very” Korekiyo pronounced.

Rantaro could hear something in those words… he couldn’t tell if it was doubt or regret.  
He wouldn’t push it.

“It’s nice to hear that” Rantaro chose to respond instead.

The two walked back in silence.

As they entered the room Rataro tried to bring back the happier attitudes they had earlier. Thankfully, Korekiyo was happy to strike up a lighthearted conversation.

In the back of his mind, Rantaro could tell there was something Korekiyo wasn’t telling him.  
It worried him.

Rantaro would get Korekiyo to tell him one day, but for now let them end the day on a good note.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo gang! I won't make the notes that long.. uhh have fun w this chapter! My -1 braincell and my 2 hours of sleep had a party writing it.

Korekiyo woke up yet again surrounded by long green hair.

The two of them must’ve forgotten to bring the other bed into the room last night, as they had promised they’d do so. It wasn’t ideal but at least both men could fit onto the one bed without it being too much of a squish.

Sure, it was slightly close, but nothing too uncomfortable.

Korekiyo pulled on the same clothes he had worn the other day. He knew that he would probably need to take a shower at some point, but that was not something he was willing to tackle just yet… he could go for at least another day. It was surprising how Rantaro’s hair didn't really get that greasy yet too, perhaps it's due to the fact it's shorter than Korekiyo’s usual hair. 

After changing, washing his face and performing basic hygiene, Korekiyo decided to wake Rantaro up. 

Korekiyo stood over Rantaro, who was curled up on the bed, and lightly prodded him. This luckily managed to stirr Rantaro and the boy rubbed his eyes and stared blearily at Korekiyo. 

“Gimme a minute..” Rantaro grumbled. Korekiyo decided that leaving him for a bit would be fair enough. 

5 minutes passed and Rantaro passed Korekiyo in a sleepy state. The long green hair was tangling as Rantaro stumbled to the bathroom. Korekiyo placed down the book he was reading to originally pass the time and watched the boy try his best to stay awake. Korekiyo found that he was easily amused by Rantaro’s antics. 

Rantaro soon got himself into Korekiyo’s uniform (not before complaining about how difficult it was though) and the two men were ready to grab some breakfast. They made their way down there with no problems and they were extremely happy to see that Kokichi was not repeating yesterday's actions again today. 

They did however find Maki, Kaede, Tenko, Himiko , Kiibo and Gonta gathered in a little group, discussing something.

Rantaro was interested to know what was happening so as he entered the room he called out to the other students. The others looked up quickly and welcomed the two men to join their conversation (except for tenko, who lightly complained on why more men were joining).

“We were trying to figure out how to fix this whole body situation!” Kaede explained. The positive smile she was wearing looked extremely out of place considering it was on Maki’s face.  
“We realised there must be some kind of mastermind behind this” Kaede continued. “Me and Maki have been exploring the place a bit, there's a hidden door in the library that shows signs of use. We deduced that the Mastermind would probably use that and return there to let monokuma out”

Rantaro took in this information.  
“So what’s the plan?” He asked

“I asked Miu to modify cameras for our trap!” Kiibo chipped in, seemingly proud of himself.

“Yes, we need some disposable cameras and a security sensor” Maki finished. 

“We just need to set up the cameras in the library at some point” Kaede confirmed.

Everybody in the group nodded. They finally had some sort of stable plan, whether it worked or not it could help find the mastermind in question. 

It eased Rantaro that something was being done. The group of students decided to eat breakfast together after explaining their plans and they all had some more normal discussions. Apparently after breakfast some of the others would set up the cameras and sensors, but that didn't involve Rantaro too much.

After they had finished eating, Rantaro and Korekiyo set off alone again. It was recommended for them not to go to the library so they decided to sit in their room for a while to pass the time. The potential idea for a stakeout against the mastermind excited Rantaro , though, and he let Korekiyo know how glad he was that something was getting done. 

“Kaede and Maki were super clever for exploring the school. We just sat around instead” Rantaro admitted. He almost felt bad that he didn't do anything to help.

“I think It's best we didn't interfere with their discoveries anyway, I believe Shuichi and Kokichi were helping them - It would've been too many people looking for the same thing” Korekiyo reasoned. 

“When you put it that way, you're right” Rantaro agreed.

Time yet again managed to pass quickly. At one point the two men ran into Tsumugi and Angie quickly. Upon mentioning the plan to find the mastermind the girls showed interest.

“Oh? Do you think it will help us switch back?” Angie pondered

“Are you sure this is a good idea? What if the mastermind is powerful..” Tsumugi fretted

“We should be good! It’s worth a shot anyway” Rantaro convinced.

Tsumugi still looked doubtful but was sidetracked when Angie complained that she needed to find something quickly, so the two girls left.

“I must agree with Tsumugi now. What if the mastermind is indeed harmful to us if we expose them?” Korekiyo wondered

Rantaro frowned in thought.

“We’re trapped in eachother's bodies in a killing game. What’s the worst that could happen?” Rantaro joked.

“It would be rather unfavourable if we had to die” was Korekiyo’s response. 

“Then lets try our hardest to survive” Rantaro announced “Promise me that you’ll live on with me” 

“I don’t believe I have the power to accept such a promise” Korekiyo responded

“Cmon, just promise you’ll try to survive Kiyo, it’s not that hard!” Rantaro convinced

“If you insist, I promise. I do not turn back on promises though so beware you may be stuck with me for a while” Korekiyo remarked

“I'm counting on it” Rantaro beamed. 

The two men walked in front of the door of the library, there they ran into Himiko, Tenko, Kaito and Ryoma.

“Hey you guys!” Rantaro greeted.

“We’re boutta head into the basement, if you two would like to join” Kaito mentioned.

Rantaro agreed on behalf of Korekiyo.

The basement area wasn’t anything specifically interesting and Korekiyo seemed satisfied with staying silent in the corner observing while everyone else looked around and talked. Rantaro was as always quick to notice that Korekiyo wasn’t deeply involved with the discussions. 

“Do you want to head up?” Rantaro asked.

“If that is what you wish” was Korekiyo’s retaliation.

Rantaro himself had seen pretty much all there was to see, so he nodded and with that the two men headed back up again.

“Do you want to enter the library?” was Korekiyo’s suggestion. Rantaro accepted the idea and with that they went in.

Yet again it was quiet, but in a peaceful way

“Anything in particular you need from here?” Rantaro asked.

“I could search for another book to take back to the room for later reading” Korekiyo suggested.

Not that Korekiyo would know where to start from, there was a large array of different books to look through in the massive library.

Now, it must be mentioned that despite previous excitement - the two men had forgotten about the mastermind plot that was brewing. Perhaps if they had remembered, the next few moments could have been avoided.

Rantaro reached for a book on a shelf, moving the bookshelf.

He saw a flash and in curiosity moved towards it..

And then he saw an object moving straight towards his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah. I feel like I have so much power to hurt everybodies feelings right now.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UHHH YEAH so won't keep the notes long haha enjoy (sister and mental abuse mention warning.. which is expected since this is a korekiyo fic but yeah pls stay safe)

Rantaro gasped.

Here he was, a heap on the floor.

The previous moments replayed in his head like a broken tape. Everything was in slow motion. It terrified him. His breathing was shallow and he could feel how loud his heartbeat was.

He could see it.

The metal ball heading straight towards him. No time to react or think about what it was. No time to understand what was going on.  
Then he felt his arm jerk as his body was launched to the side. Somebody was grabbing him tightly and his body collapsed onto the floor like a ragged pile.

He heard a loud clanging noise 

The metal ball rolled next to him, but Rantaro was still alive. 

Korekiyo.

That's who dragged him to the side.

Rantaro looked to his side and sure enough the other man looked in terror at the metal ball lying on the floor.

There was a long silence as both of them just took in the near death experience.

Rantaro opened his mouth but the sound wouldn’t come out. How do you even thank somebody who had just saved your life? A normal thank you doesn't seem to cut it.

“You promised me that we would both try our hardest to survive” Korekiyo remarked, cutting through the silence.

Rantaro looked at the man with wide eyes.

“I couldn’t let you die this early on” Korekiyo added. 

Rantaro couldn’t help it. He started laughing.

It was so.. Bizarre. Rantaro knew deep down that if there was even a second delay he would have his brains smashed out right now.

The door to the library burst open and in ran Shuichi , Kaede, Kokichi and Maki. The group stopped running and looked at the scene in front of them. Rantaro sitting weakly on the floor, a large shotput ball right next to him and Korekiyo breathing heavily at the side.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” Yelped Kaede. She ran over to help Rantaro up.

“Something was aimed right at me” Rantaro stated, gesturing to the shotput. His words came out with a tone of disbelief, he still was in shock from the experience.

Kaedes eyes widened. She looked very distinctly guilty.

Kokichi walked over to the shotput ball and began prodding it.

“Wow... sure is heavy! That could’ve totally crushed your skull Rantaro!” Kokichi observed, in a way that certainly didn't fit the mood. Maki glared the boy down.   
“Who would have thrown it? We ran in here because we thought we detected movements from the mastermind.. ” Shuichi claimed.

Kaede glanced at the metal ball on the floor and put her hand against her head.

“God.. Im.. I'm so so sorry Rantaro.. I thought the mastermind was moving and I thought it was the best action plan..” She trailed off.

Rantaro looked up in shock at Kaede. She couldn't mean…?

“Are you insinuating that you nearly murdered Rantaro?” Came a sharp response from Korekiyo. 

“I set a trap when the others weren’t watching.. The books moving triggered said trap.. gosh im so sorry! I really didn’t think it would aim at you or that you would set it off!” Kaede pleaded. 

“Sorry wouldn’t have helped the situation if Rantaro had ended up dead” Korekiyo expressed. The man looked very threatening, especially with his new mask adorned on his face. 

Kaede gave a few more muttered apologies, practically begging for forgiveness. 

Rantaro couldn’t face himself to forgive her right then, as it was true what Korekiyo was saying. If he had died this would be a different situation. He knew he would forgive her at some point, but he needed to think.

“Kiyo, can we go back to the room?” proposed Rantaro. Korekiyo nodded. The four students watched as the pair of men left the library.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Korekiyo vocalised.

“Yeah. Slightly shaky but I’m good” Rantaro revealed “I’m alive.. So that’s all that matters right now”. 

“Seeing you die in front of me would not have been ideal. While i find humanity beautiful, i’d prefer to see life flourish rather than end” Korekiyo claimed.

Rantaro let out a small huff of amusement.

“I'm sure my death would’ve really ruined your observations on me, am I right?” He joked.

“I believe it would’ve affected me. I’m not sure on the exact scale yet, but i’ll come back to you on that one” Was Korekiyo’s answer, a tone of humour in it.   
“God Kiyo, you’re saying you can't tell how much you care for lil ol’ me? Harsh, man” Rantaro advanced, giggling.

Korekiyo looked over at Rantaro, though much of his face was obscured Rantaro could see he wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Caring doesn’t mean for you what it does to me. I don't believe I could ever care for somebody again..” Korekiyo revealed. He looked troubled. 

Rantaro scrunched up his eyebrows in a small frown.

“What do you mean?” Rantaro tentatively asked.

“I won't.. Disclose any previous relationships of mine, but caring isn't something I want to do any longer” Korekiyo announced, voice monotonous.

“Caring is just feeling protective of someone, right? You saved me and didn't want me to die.. Isn't that a level of caring in a way?” Rantaro stated.

Korekiyo looked down to the floor in thought.

“That wouldn’t make sense. I wish for many people to not die on a daily basis, I certainly don’t care for them all.” Korekiyo assured.

“You can’t like.. Teach your brain who to care for and who not to care for Kiyo. It’s a natural process. We confirmed we were friends, right? Therefore you care for me in some way, even if it's mildly. Would you feel upset if I disappeared from your life one day? Would you miss me? Think honestly to yourself.” Rantaro insisted.

Korekiyo was silent.

A small moment of pure silence passed between the men, the both of them staring at one another.

“Perhaps you’re right” Korekiyo suddenly expressed.

Rantaro could certainly tell there was something troubling the man still.

“Is there a certain reason you don't wish to care anymore?” Rantaro suggested.

Korekiyo shut his eyes and slowly reopened them.

“Somebody in my family wasn’t a good person” was the simple response from the reserved man.

Ah. Family issues. Something Rantaro could kind of relate to.  
“What did they.. Do?” Rantaro pushed. If Korekiyo was slowly revealing himself Rantaro may as well ask.

“They were the only person I could care for. The only person there for me. They were my light..” Korekiyo expressed, trailing off.  
“They told me everyday that they were the only one i could care for. I believed them. They taught me I wasn't capable of caring or love and who was I to disagree, they were a wonderful person.” 

Rantaro certainly didn't like the direction this had headed in. Family issues, he could do, but this wasn’t regular family issues. This was abusive and highly manipulative, and Korekiyo obviously still thought the world of this person , though he tried not to. 

“Kiyo, you're human like everybody else.. Of course you can care for others” Rantaro stated softly “That person sounds.. Manipulative. I know you like them but it's not healthy..”

“No.” came clearly from Korekiyo.

There was no further addition on what Korekiyo was saying no to. The manipulation claim? The whole statement? 

“Korekiyo. You’re an amazing person. You’re smart, funny and unknowingly kind. You say you do not care, but i can see that you do care, for me and for the others here” Rantaro remarked.

Korekiyo stayed silent, like he was thinking through his next rebuttal.

“You’re not alone. That family member is not the only person you have… im here” Rantaro finished. Perhaps setting himself to the level of the mysterious family member wasn’t the best move, but he had to show Kiyo that he mattered somehow. 

“Who are you to be here for me? I don’t see a reason why.” was Korekiyo’s only reply.

It was obvious the boy was not trying to reveal much and stay reserved, but his insecurity in the aspect of being alone was shining through. 

“Im here because i care for you, not whatever deep rooted idea of care you have in your mind - but the kind of normal caring that good friends have. I want you to stay here by me and be by my side” Rantaro stated, smiling.

Korekiyo didn't know what to reply. There wasn’t much that could be said to that.

“Thank you” was all that was said.

Rantaro smiled.

All Korekiyo needed was somebody by him , and Rantaro would happily fill that spot for as long as he was alive.   
They had promised to survive together, after all , and they both don’t take promises lightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah uhh did you really think i would kill Rantaro off those quickly..? not YET guys gosh. leave some for later!! all jokes aside the concerned comments on the last chapter made me chuckle a little. Also can we all just confirm that kiyo deserves better collectively? thanks x


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this chapter inspired by me and my gf? perhaps. I had lots of fun writing this chapter and i think it was my favorite to write yet. (i was also chasing mosquitos out my room as i wrote it so there was some drama in the background too - shock! horror!)

The pair had finally dragged the spare bed into the room this time, meaning it was no longer necessary for Korekiyo to wake up wrapped in the long green hair that now belonged to Rantaro. Korekiyo slightly missed the feeling, though, strange how two days can already create a routine. It took slightly more strength than usual for Korekiyo to lift himself out of his bed.

Korekiyo decided that he was in desperate need of a shower at this point. There’s only a certain amount of days you can go without starting to almost marinate in your own filth. Korekiyo tried his best to respectfully clean himself in a way that wouldn’t be too awkward. Indeed it was still awkward - but Korekiyo wasn’t one to sweat the small details.

After a much needed wash, Korekiyo changed back into Rantaro’s signature shirt (one that was surprisingly soft and comfortable, though not Korekiyo’s usual style he enjoyed wearing it) and woke up the other man while towel drying his hair.

Rantaro groaned yet again at the prospects of waking up , but he knew full well from previous mornings that Korekiyo would not let him rest for any longer. Slowly Rantaro sat himself up.

“You washed?” He asked, gesturing to the towel hanging from the desk chair.

“Yes, I hope that’s not uncomfortable for you.” Korekiyo stated.

“No it's chill, I need to shower too anyway. This hair gets unmaintainable after a while” Rantaro chuckled.

Korekiyo passed the boy a spare towel and Rantaro went to wash up and change. Korekiyo passed the time by reading the one book he had managed to get from the library after the escapade yesterday. The idea that he may have missed saving Rantaro pestered him every so often, scenarios of what would’ve happened flashing through his mind - He tried his best to pay no attention to these nonsense thoughts.

Rantaro emerged from the bathroom. This time instead of Korekiyo’s usual uniform, Rantaro adorned a black turtleneck shirt and some dark jeans. Korekiyo must admit that the outfit looked flattering - it probably wouldn't be something Korekiyo would consider to wear on a normal day but the outfit partnered with Rantaro’s demeanor in his body fit just right. 

As usual, the pair went down to the dining room for some food. There they were joined by Tsumugi and Angie, who sat themselves down at the table the two men were positioned at. Korekiyo couldn’t find it in himself to mind, it wasn’t usual for people to want to sit with him on such occasions. 

“We heard what happened yesterday, are you okay?” Tsumugi fretted to Rantaro, wondering about the whole near death incident.

“Yeah! I'm good. Thanks to Kiyo I made it out alive” Rantaro responded, smiling up at the man next to him.

“It’s very lucky that he could move so fast, he must be very athletic! ” Angie mused. Rantaro nodded in agreement.

Korekiyo didn't know how to feel about the conversation turning to lightly praise him. It wasn’t something he was familiar with.

A conversation was happening with the two girls and Rantaro, but Korekiyo couldn’t quite keep up with it all. Every so often he heard a little laugh or an excited ramble but instead of tuning in to the conversation, Korekiyo observed how comfortable the three looked talking to one another. From Korekiyo’s experience observing this is most likely what a normal friendship looked like. It was a beautiful sight to see such a thing even in such mysterious conditions.

Rantaro had already confirmed that Korekiyo was his friend, but Korekiyo was less sure if the girls sitting with them thought they too were friends. Korekiyo knew he was bad at reading relationships, He often misinterpreted a lot of the bonds he had with others - not that there were many. 

So as the two men split up from the girls, Korekiyo turned to Rantaro.

“Do you think those two would consider me as a friend?” Korekiyo asked.

“I’d say so for sure. They seemed happy talking with us the other day and they’re comfortable to sit with us.” Rantaro acknowledged. 

Korekiyo nodded. So he had now garnered three friends. 

“A few of the others are going to hang out in the arcade room, do you wish to join?” Rantaro asked. Korekiyo accepted the offer as they really didn’t have much else to do. It would be a good place to observe the other students if not much else. 

Korekiyo and Rantaro entered the arcade only to be met by a devastated Kaito and a cackling Miu. Kaito had his new smaller body sprawled on the floor, fists banging on the floor, while Miu’s new elegant body pointed cruelly at the man. 

“This isn't fair!” Kaito growled

“Nyahaha! That’s what happens when you challenge the gorgeous girl genius herself!” Miu gloated.

Rantaro walked over to an onlooking Shuichi.

“What happened?” Rantaro whispered.

“Kaito challenged Miu to the slot machines, apparently she’s super lucky with them” Shuichi explained, a smile on his face.

Rantaro nodded, suddenly amused. So that's what all the fuss was about. Korekiyo had also heard the reason for this outburst and he also looked suitably entertained. 

Kirumi, Kokichi and Ryoma seemed to be fussing over a claw machine in the corner of the room. Kokichi was chanting and pushing his fists into the air in excitement. Kirumi looked very concentrated as she maneuvered the flimsy claw that tried to clamp up a small stuffed toy, sadly to no luck.

Korekiyo joined them and looked over at the machine. It would be very difficult for that machine to actually carry the weight of those teddies, the teddy in question to aim for would have to be light enough. Korekiyo’s eyes scanned the assortment of stuffed animals inside the small machine, it was there he saw the perfect toy.

It was a small dog. It had light brown fur, with large light green eyes. The eyes reminded Korekiyo of Rantaro’s hair.. and the whole toy in general managed to carry Rantaro’s energy. Now that he was thinking about it, Rantaro did in fact act like an excited puppy at times. Korekiyo sized up the teddy and realised by all means it seemed light enough for the claw to carry. With that in mind, Korekiyo had set himself on grabbing it.

Korekiyo politely asked the other three people around the machine if he could have a go, the others stepped to the side so that he could insert a monocoin to the machine. The game started to life and asked the player to move the joystick to the desired position, and then press the red button for the claw to descend. 

Korekiyo lined up the claw to the perfect position and clicked the button for the claw to grab the toy, unfortunately the claw decided to not go too easy on the man and only grabbed an ear of the dog, before dropping it back into the pile. 

Korekiyo huffed in annoyance. He had yet another go with the same outcome.

“Cmon Kiyooo!” Kokichi yelled, bouncing to the side. 

Miu had also joined to watch what was happening over at the claw machine.

“Betcha can’t grab one of these fuckers” Miu teased.

Korekiyo felt even more obliged to continue at this point.

He had another go to no avail. Kokichi and Miu began to tease him yet again.

Korekiyo sighed and placed yet another coin into the machine.

Watching the mechanic of the claw after a few turns, he had determined that the claw went slightly too much to the right - so instead of lining the joystick up perfectly he would make it more to the left than before.

Korekiyo did so and pushed the red button, holding his breath. To his delight the claw picked up the small dog and then chucked it down the prize chute to be collected.

The surrounding students gave a small cheer at the eventual win. Korekiyo picked up the toy and looked at it in amusement.

Korekiyo spotted that Rantaro had indeed been watching him struggle to get this animal, which was slightly embarrassing, but it now meant he had nothing left to lose.

Korekiyo took a step over to Rantaro and held his hand with the toy out, gesturing for Rantaro to take it. Rantaros' eyes widened but he slowly reached out to grab the stuffed dog. Rantaro inspected the toy and started to beam.

“For real? I can take it?” Rantaro asked.

Korekiyo nodded, uncharacteristically shy in this situation. It wasn’t helped by Miu’s whistles behind them. 

The group of students spent a little longer at the arcade, before they all eventually branched off again. Korekiyo left with Rantaro, who had the stuffed dog clutched in one hand. 

As soon as they left the others, Rantaro suddenly leaned over to hug Korekiyo.

“Thank you so much for the toy” Rantaro expressed. 

Korekiyo tensed and stared at the boy in shock. He was certainly not used to hugging or anything of the sort. Rantaro sensed the boy's surprise and pulled away quickly.

“Oh I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry!” Rantaro stumbled.

“I was more startled than uncomfortable” Korekiyo assured. 

Rantaro gave a small awkward smile.

“It was really out of the blue, i don't know what came over me” He tried to explain.

Korekiyo smiled fondly at the boy.

“It’s alright. The toy was originally going to be for you anyway. It reminded me of you” Korekiyo revealed.

It was now Rantaro’s time to be shocked.

“You put that effort in to get this for me?” Rantaro asked.

“Seeing your expression after was worth it, I believe” Korekiyo remarked.

Rantaro laughed.

“Well, I'm glad I produced a reaction for you. Thank you, I’ll treasure it” he beamed.

This made Korekiyo feel rather euphoric.  
He liked the feeling.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a long call with friends so i could only really start writing this at 2:00 am. I know i've been updating this fic daily but my personal insomnia is really getting to me and so i may take a day or so break with chapter uploading to hopefully recharge at some point (I hope this is understandable!). It's nothing set in stone, i may still upload tomorrow but im just letting you guys know so you're not surprised if i go MIA. (also feel free to contact me @korekiyoloveclub or @novakhos on insta i love to talk to amaguji lovers)

Korekiyo lay awake on his bed. He wasn’t sure of the time, but he didn’t feel all that tired. The man was surprised he had been sleeping normally for the last few days - perhaps it was due to the stress tiring him out - but today his insomnia caught up to him and made him lie awake staring at the ceiling in disdain. 

Korekiyo had terrible insomnia in the past. He was more than used to the feeling of staying awake during the night. Sometimes he would walk around outside late at night to tire him out enough, but obviously that was not possible in the situation he was in where he was trapped. 

Night time had a whole different aura. At night people did things they wouldn’t usually do, at night people were calmer and more at peace. This was proven of course by lots of observations Korekiyo had done. Night could be a dangerous time, but also a time where mysteries could be uncovered. Korekiyo liked that.

Korekiyo stood up to grab the book he had been reading that day. The room may be dark but there was just about enough light for the words to be understood. Along the way Korekiyo grabbed a glass of water and made his way back to bed to settle down. 

The book was not the most interesting, but he enjoyed it as it related to his situation currently. It was about a group that had been dropped on an island to kill each other, much like Korekiyo and the others had minus the island. It was engaging to see how the characters reacted to each death, all the characters personalities were so abstract that they really were great to read about. The deaths themselves weren’t the most interesting, but the extremely out there executions amused Korekiyo to read. Things like that luckily could not be real.

Actually, Korekiyo didn’t know what he was expecting as he too was in a killing game.

It was best not to think too hard on the situation. 

Korekiyo closed the book with a sigh. It would be no good to overthink it currently.

Overthinking always left Korekiyo in a bad state, he knew this all too well from experience. 

He wasn’t sure if such a thing was normal. He didn’t really have many people to ask, friends or just professionals in general. He was kept away from people for the majority of his life which led to his lack in skills socially. He tried his best to make up for it by observing others to see how it was normal to react in certain situations, which led him down to his fixation with humanity and it’s beauty.

He should thank his sister for keeping him away from others. Without that he wouldn’t have unlocked his passion for anthropology or any of his current goals. It was a minor setback to start him up in life.

That’s what she told him. Korekiyo made himself believe it. It made sense after all, he was in fact only the ultimate anthropologist due to his own interest to know how people act in social situations. This interest wouldn’t have been produced if it wasn't for his sister declining his social knowledge. It happened to be a sacrifice thing, to give up some to win some. 

His life certainly wasn’t as bad as it may have been made out to be. He had a house, food and loving sister. Sure, others may look down upon it, but it was what it was.

His sister loved him and he loved her back.

At least he believed so.

Korekiyo wasn’t sure what love really was. Was he even able to love? Stories about attraction only described the man and the woman feeling love at first sight. Women and men blown away by the beauty of their partners, heart thumping out of their chests.

Korekiyo certainly didn’t feel that with his sister. Yes, he could trick himself into believing that he only needed her, but he knew that it wasn’t how it was meant to be.  
She was too good at convincing him, though.  
One mention of her illness brought Korekiyo back to her. No matter how many times Korekiyo tried to distance himself the chants of ‘After everything i’ve done for you’ or ‘You’d leave your darling sister in such a state? Shame on you’ made him come back to explain himself. He was a spider tangled in a web with no escape.

Korekiyo stood up and paced around the room. Anything to tire him out or remove the past from his mind. He wasn’t aware of how loud he was being till Rantaro sleepily sat up to observe the man.

“You alright?” Rantaro asked, concern laced in his voice.

“I apologise for waking you. I’m just thinking about some things” Korekiyo clarified.

“Since im awake already, if you need to talk i'm here” Rantaro stated

“There is no need, i’d recommend you get some rest” Korekiyo assured.

Rantaro stared intently at the man infront of him.

“I probably won’t be able to get back to sleep anyway. You seem super troubled, just talk to me” Rantaro pressed.

Korekiyo faltered. While he did wish to get things off his chest he knew he couldn’t reveal much. His situation wasn’t one to be understood easily. The last thing he wished for was for Rantaro to be disgusted - which is why it was much easier to obscure his past.

“Is it about the family member you had mentioned previously?” Rantaro guessed.

Korekiyo looked up quickly.

“I shall take the reaction as a yes” Rantaro presumed.

“The matters I had with my family shouldn’t trouble you” Korekiyo claimed.

“Im chill with it. I’ve been told im very good with listening” Rantaro mentioned.

Korekiyo gave a small huff of amusement, and then quickly returned to his state of indifference.

“It’s extremely long” Korekiyo pushed.

“I’m going to sound very cheesy right now, but i literally have all night” Rantaro remarked.

Korekiyo knew he wouldn’t have much of a chance of getting out of this one, he figured he would try explain a more condensed version of his past.

“I grew up alone with my one family member. She was there to lead me through life since a very young age. I was very isolated from others except for her as a child, but very happy all the same. As i grew up she wouldn’t let her have friends or make contact with others - but it was all to protect me and keep me safe. I learned to observe others from the outside, which I'm glad she got me to do - it’s why I'm an ultimate today. Eventually.. Misfortune struck.. And I travelled around the world to observe humanity and keep her memory by doing what she had brought me to do.” Korekiyo explained.

“I’m sorry for your loss” Rantaro responded.

However, Rantaro could deduce there was something missing from this story. From the way Korekiyo explained his family members and his expressions throughout doing so there was something deeper that had happened.

“Was the main reason for her not letting you talk to others only for the purpose of safety?” Rantaro urged.

“Yes. That was her reason. She was also always frail, so perhaps mingling with children who may carry illnesses back wasn’t best for me to do either” Korekiyo noted.

Rantaro could tell that this family member was Korekiyo’s sister. Korekiyo had only ever mentioned a sister before. Said sister was obviously mentally abusive to the man, especially if he wasn’t allowed contact with others.

“You must’ve been very close with her” Rantaro added.

“As i had said, she was my light” Korekiyo confirmed, mind elsewhere.

Rantaro wasn’t happy with what he was inferring. It made his heart drop.

“Did she love you?” Rantaro implored.

Korekiyo furrowed his brow.  
“Of course she did, why wouldn’t she”

Rantaro held his breath for a moment.

“Korekiyo, was she your lover?”

Korekiyo visibly tensed in front of the other man. A silence filled the room with only the buzz of the pipes. 

“I can no longer love that woman” Korekiyo answered, hands shaking slightly.

Rantaro stood up to go next to the panicking man.

“Please don’t touch me” Korekiyo pleaded to Rantaro. Rantaro nodded and resorted to trying to calm the man down with just showing that he was there for him.

“Kiyo, if you wish you can tell me everything” Rantaro whispered, trying to ease the man.

Korekiyo was obviously in a state of disarray currently. He was shaking and muttering to himself.

“She loved me and was so so ill. I couldn’t leave her alone. I let her have anything she wanted, I cared for her so much..” Korekiyo trailed off, voice wavering.

Rantaro decided it would be best to let Korekiyo continue speaking when his thoughts gathered some more.

“Kiyo, sit on the bed. Im here, it’s okay.” Rantaro comforted.

Korekiyo took some more shaky breaths and took a seat at the edge of his bed, hands at his side to steady himself.

“She.. she wanted to spend time with me. I would never refuse. I thought we were doing what was normal for siblings, until I was visibly uncomfortable around her. She would tell me that it was awful for me to be unhappy around her.. A brother uneasy around his own sister? That upset her. I didn’t want her upset, so I stayed. I stayed for so long..” Korekiyo took a gasp of air “One night I couldn't take it, I argued back. She guilted me and told me I was disgusting.. Nobody would love me.. I was inclined to agree. Yet i didn’t return back to her as i usually did - i stayed away. Only a few days after the incident her condition worsened and it was clear she didn’t have long left. I always blame myself for her death, if she hadn’t stressed over me perhaps she would've stayed in a better condition.”

Rantaro took in this information.

“Oh, Kiyo..” He whispered, suppressing his feeling of utter rage to Korekiyo’s sister.

Korekiyo was still lightly shaking on the bed, head down.

“You are worth so much. She was a vile person to have done any of that to you” Rantaro voiced. “May i hug you? It is alright if you feel unease with me touching you, I understand that completely” he added. 

Korekiyo gave a small nod.  
“You may” he mumbled softly.

Rantaro wrapped his arms around Korekiyo and Korekiyo leant into the man. The two sat there in the embrace for a while. Korekiyo stopped shaking as much and slowly pulled away from the hug.

“Thank you” Korekiyo expressed.

Rantaro gave a small smile.

“I should thank you for opening up to me”.

The two men decided to rest in Korekiyo’s bed for the night, so the man wouldn’t panic and overthink. 

“You are so much more important than you think Kiyo” Rantaro murmured, as both men drifted off.

Korekiyo shut his eyes with a soft smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is .. so early in the morning.. too early for trauma talk yet here i am. Fuck Miyadera Shinguji.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unrelated entirely to the fic but im on pure FNAF brainrot rn and i was rereading into the pit before i wrote this chapter. For some reason (for the first time) the first story terrified me. It's probably me imagining Springtrap/glitchtrap beckoning to me in pitch black.. anyway! enjoy this chapter. I'm just trying to ease more plot into there yknow.

Korekiyo awoke yet again with long green hair in his face, but he couldn’t find it in himself to mind. It had become a pattern of sorts. What was new however was the fact that Korekiyo couldn’t find it in himself to get up just yet. He felt exhausted. Everything he had said the night before stuck in his mind and humiliated him in a way, Korekiyo wasn’t one to be so open. 

He was thankful that Rantaro had been so understanding and had eased his mind, many people would've been disgusted or frightened with Korekiyo’s story - but Rantaro had just listened and cared. Korekiyo found that he was slowly liking being cared for and caring back, though it would take time to get used to. 

The position the two had fallen asleep in was slightly embarrassing. Korekiyo had his head somewhat buried in Rantaro’s chest and was leaning against the other man, he quickly adjusted his position to be in a less close proximity. 

Korekiyo slowly rose after a while to get himself ready. He was aware that he probably didn’t look his finest (judged by how swollen his eyes felt) and he needed some time to clean his face and freshen up before Rantaro woke up.

It didn’t take Korekiyo long to look like his usual self , or as usual as he could in the body of Rantaro, again. He was lucky his mask obscured a large portion of his face so nobody could really see many of the expressions he made anyway. Korekiyo wouldn’t let him get to the state he had last night again regardless, but it’s good to have a mask in any case. 

Korekiyo did in fact hesitate when he went to wake Rantaro. There would probably be questions about last night mentioned at some point, but it was probably to be expected after such an outburst. Rantaro would wake up eventually anyway, whether it was now or in a few hours. Questions couldn’t be avoided.  
“Rantaro, it is recommended for you to rise now” Korekiyo announced, placing a hand on Rantaro’s shoulder to nudge him awake. Rantaro let out a usual groan before the man opened his eyes and looked up at Korekiyo.

“Gimme a minute” Rantaro grumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Korekiyo left him to wake and passed the time with his book, as he had for the last few mornings. This had all turned into a pretty nice routine. 

Korekiyo watched from the corner of his eye as Rantaro trudged slowly to the bathroom. It must be difficult for the man to handle such long hair now, as previously his hair was kept pretty short. It certainly took Korekiyo a while to remember he no longer had hair he could play with in moments of boredom. 

When Rantaro finally emerged from the bathroom he was wearing a loose beige turtleneck jumper with black jeans. These kinds of outfits were really pulled off by Rantaro - not due to the body he was in but more how he portrayed himself and his demeanor. Rantaro gave Korekiyo’s body a whole new look that Korekiyo himself would probably never be able to do. 

The two men started their day by heading to the dining hall as usual to have breakfast. There was a sense of unrest radiating in the room. Everyone seemed to be fed up with this body swap - rightfully so - and with no new leads over potential masterminds they were stuck. Nobody dared to set up traps again after word came out about Rantaro’s incident and hope was being lost. Even monokuma seemed fed up by nobody acting on anything as he would often pop up to remind the students that the only way to switch was to commit a murder. Ryoma would remind everybody that he wouldn’t particularly mind if he was used as a victim in this situation, but nobody listened or took any heed to it. 

Everybody had managed to gather in a group for breakfast this morning. Everyone sat around a table and brainstormed ideas to figure out the potential mastermind.

“If the mastermind is here, why are we discussing this as a group? They’ll know our plans” Kaito pointed out. 

There were nods and hums of agreement to this statement.

“There would be no other way. We can’t leave innocent people out of the loop” Kaede pushed.

Rantaro had in fact accepted Kaede’s apology the day before. Rantaro didn’t want to carry the grudge any longer so he decided to forgive and forget. 

“What would the mastermind even be doin? Do they just sit around all day or somethin?” Miu asked.   
“We’ve established that the mastermind controls the monokuma’s and the motives, right? So in the end they must be doing something that will eventually out them” Shuichi remarked. 

“We’re relying on catching them in the middle of something?” Kirumi pondered.

“There’s probably no other way” Maki claimed.

“You guys are so stupid! The mastermind’s not gonna leave any tracks behind now!” Kokichi expressed.

Shuichi gave an exasperated glare towards Kokichis direction.

“The mastermind probably checks what we do on those cameras everywhere anyway” Rantaro sighed “We probably wouldn’t be able to sneak up on them”.

“I don’t want some degenerate male checking everything I'm doing!” Tenko declared in shock.

“We don’t even know if the mastermind is a man” Kaede mentioned.

“Too confusing..” Himiko mumbled.

“Just sitting and waiting until we’re eventually killed isn’t gonna help find the mastermind. You guys are so obsessed with teamwork and friendship to the point you’ll end up dead” Kokichi remarked, arms crossed. 

“Just shut up” Kaito replied.

“How could you say such a thing to me, Kaito.. That really hurt” Kokichi expressed tearfully. Suddenly he wore a massive grin. “You’re all so dumb, you wont even listen to what i’m saying!”.

The group stood in silence for a minute.

“Kokichi is.. right. Let’s all try to think of a plan once and for all.” Shuichi proposed.

“The reason we all came to talk here is caus we couldn’t think of one” Miu reminded, rolling her eyes.

“I’ll try my best to help think of one” Kiibo chipped in.

“In the end we have to stop a murder from happening as long as possible. Let’s split off now in our pairs, and we can try to think hard about a plan” Shuichi conveyed.

Nobody else had much else to say, so everyone went off in their partners to go about their day. 

“This situation is certainly not ideal” Korekiyo stated.

Rantaro gave a small huff of amusement.

“That’s for sure” Rantaro replied.

Rantaro furrowed his brow and looked like he was about to mention something, but then chose against it. 

“The mastermind in this game.. They definitely don't want us all working together. We shouldn’t let our guards down, we are still in a killing game after all” Rantaro worried. “I also want to get out of this building soon, to become friends with you everyone, y'know? I feel like others want the same.. But some may consider other routes to do that”

“I understand where you’re coming from. I know not to put my trust in others so quickly, yet I feel like not many people here have the capabilities or mindset to kill. The only person I will hold firm suspicions towards is Kokichi” Korekiyo reflected.

Rantaro nodded.

“Kokichi is an odd case, yet he brought up interesting points in the previous discussion and I was inclined to agree with him” Rantaro voiced.

“As terrible as the situation may be, I’m also inclined to agree with him. We are infact sitting ducks until we figure out more about our situation” Korekiyo conveyed.

Rantaro looked over at Korekiyo.

“You’re possibly the most reliable and trustworthy person to me in this game. While the other students are surely nice, after getting to know you the way you rationalise everything and treat everyone is unmatched” Rantaro admitted.

“As to you. I believe we make quite a team” Korekiyo proposed.

“Definitely. I’m ready when you are, partner” Rantaro replied, grinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact : i was sidetracked by reading Rantaro's whole wiki page midway through this. His character is so entirely relatable to me and i love that man.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly , MASSIVE thank you for 100 kudos. More than i've ever recieved on a fic yet. I must mention that i am extremely proud of myself for continuing this fic. I've never updated a fic this much before. Thank you all for sticking with me. 10 chapters! wow!!

As the day continued, nothing much happened. Korekiyo wasn’t sure if he should be glad of the lack of activity or annoyed by it. Nothing happening of course meant that there were no deaths, but it also meant they were stuck in their situation for longer. Currently the two of them sat in the room while preoccupying their minds. 

What Korekiyo had noticed however was that Rantaro looked troubled every once in a while, as if in deep thought. Korekiyo chose to let it slide at first, figuring Rantaro would tell him what was on his mind, but it was clear now that Rantaro was planning to tackle whatever it was on his own.

“Rantaro, what’s clouding your mind?” Korekiyo queried.

Rantaro looked over to Korekiyo, losing his initial train of thought.

“Ah! Nothing!” Rantaro responded, smiling.

Korekiyo was an Anthropologist. He had a very good grip on when others were not being truthful.

“Rantaro, I have shared what has been concerning me with you, and I request you do the same. While I am not usually the one to press on such matters I can see you are disturbed and I wish to help” Korekiyo voiced. 

Rantaro furrowed his brow and gave a small sigh.

“I’m not sure if I’m allowed to share this information with you, as much as I wish to..” Rantaro stated.

“I must admit, i'm not sure what you could mean by that. There is nothing stopping you.” Korekiyo observed.

Rantaro looked down, shoulders tensed. He then grabbed his Monopad from his trouser pocket and handed it over to Korekiyo.

Korekiyo took the monopad.

“What do you wish for me to do with this?” Korekiyo remarked.

“Oh, I've got to do the puzzle again” Rantaro remembered. He took the monopod back and handed it back to Korekiyo a little later. An image of Rantaro was displayed on the screen. He was sitting in a room with an odd red backdrop, face calm.

“Before you watch it I'd like to state I figured out the puzzle only this morning while in the bathroom. I’m not sure what it leads to or means… I don’t believe monokuma allows me to show it to other students as in the video I claim he’d shoo others away from it… but try your best to view it” Rantaro confessed.

Korekiyo looked at the pad with confusion and clicked play onto the video. The video started with no problems, so Monokuma or the mastermind must no longer have problems with others viewing the video. Perhaps that’s due to the fact that nothing interesting has happened lately?

Rantaro’s usual drawl came out of the speakers.

“Hey there, guess i don't have to introduce myself, Huh? I get that it’s probably pretty confusing seeing.. Yourself like this. Guess I should start from the beginning. First things first, I'm you. No tricks, no actors. It's you. The reason you don’t remember recording this was because your memory was erased.” Video Rantaro claimed.

To the side of Korekiyo, Rantaro shuffled around uncomfortably. The man seemed worried about the contents of this video.

“Think of this as a video message from Rantaro before you lost your memory… to the Rantaro after you lost your memory. So let’s get to it,then. the reason I recorded this footage. The truth is, by participating in this killing game, I’m actually allowed to prepare a few special privileges for myself. One of those special privileges is this video message. However, in order to see this message in the first place, you’ll need to have solved the puzzle that Monokuma prepared… Well, the fact that you’re watching this video at all means you should already have solved it. Also, just know that you’re not allowed to share this video with any of your friends. If you brought any friends in and Monokuma chased them out, that’s the reason why.”

Korekiyo was greatly worried about this fact. Why had monokuma allowed him to witness this video? Surely there is a bigger reason. Was it to move the game on? To make Korekiyo suspicious of Rantaro?

“By the way, I’m allowed one other special privilege, and it’s something you’ve been carrying around with you since the beginning of the killing game. Come on, you know what I’m getting at, right? I’m talking about something you’ve been carrying around since the moment the game started, you know? I thought that as long as you used that well, you could put an end to the killing game with it…” 

Korekiyo looked over at Rantaro. The other man shook his head, visually telling Korekiyo that he had no idea what the video was talking about.

“If you’re watching my video message like this, then I guess that means my plan failed. I guess things wouldn’t go that easily after all. Well, aside from those two special privileges, I should be in exactly the same kind of condition as all the other participants. What I mean is…I’ll have my memories from up until now emptied out, and I’ll enter the killing game. By the way, there’s something I’ve been thinking about that Monokuma explained in detail a while ago… This brutal killing game is going to continue “until there are only 2 people left.” What that rule actually means… Well actually, it’s the most crucial part of this whole thing, but…”

Suddenly a loud beep was heard as the room lit up red.

“Haha, looks like that word was off-limits after all. Guess you’ll just have to solve that last riddle on your own. But hey, this is you we’re talking about, so I think you’re smart enough that you’ll do just fine.”

Korekiyo watched Rantaro bite his lip nervously from the corner of his eye. 

“…Ah, that’s right. There was one more thing I wanted to say. The truth is, this isn’t the first time I’ve participated in a killing game. I made it out alive of “the last killing game,” as the “Super High School Level Survivor”… That’s the reason behind those special privileges I mentioned earlier. Those are “survivor’s privileges.” However, that doesn’t mean they’re entirely to your advantage. Those who know about your identity will be sure to target you… That’s the main point I want you to be careful about.” 

Korekiyo frowned.

“Ah, and finally, I just want to tell you this… This is a killing game that you yourself wished for. So that’s why, you definitely gotta win. Definitely.”

With that, the video stopped. 

Rantaro shifted nervously on his seat, eyes low.

“So, you do not remember filming this at all?” Korekiyo checked.

Rantaro shook his head.  
“As the video said, my memory has been erased. I myself don’t understand much of what he… I am saying” He confirmed.

“You’ve been in a previous killing game.. So you’ve been in this situation before..” Korekiyo voiced aloud “But then why would you wish for another killing game? You certainly stated that you wished for it yourself”.

Rantaro looked at a loss.

“I have been wondering that all day too. I would never.. Want to be stuck in a killing game.. Especially not twice. I don’t understand what it all means. The thing i’ve been carrying up till now? The survivor perk? It’s all foreign to me” Rantaro muttered.

Korekiyo sat silently in thought for a moment.

“We shall figure it out. We are both at a loss here, but we shall find out what it means. Old you certainly didn’t help us in such a circumstance but since I also share the burden of this video I will help solve this” Korekiyo stated. 

Rantaro gave a small smile.

“I appreciate it. I was scared you would grow suspicious of me , especially due to the fact that.. I wanted this game. Whatever that may mean.” Rantaro advanced.

“I am just suggesting here, but what if you yourself are the mastermind, without being aware of it anymore. You wishing to start this killing game sound similar to a mastermind, does it not?” Korekiyo remarked. 

Rantaro widened his eyes.

“No. No way. I could never. Old me was thrown into it. Why would I make it hard for myself if I was the mastermind, with the puzzles and memory loss?” Rantaro quickly defended. 

“It was merely a suggestion, I am not stating that I think you're the mastermind, Rantaro. What you’re saying is true, why would you make such a killing game difficult for yourself if you indeed were the mastermind” Korekiyo expressed. 

“Do you think we should.. Show everyone else the video?” Rantaro questioned.

“That is indeed up to you. As old Rantaro had said, people may target you if they find out - but at the same time it may help Shuichi and other students who are good at detective work in general.” Korekiyo responded.

Rantaro paused for a moment before replying with “Then i’d need to think about it, this isn’t.. An easy decision.”

“I recognise that. I’d be here for whatever help you may need” Korekiyo consoled.

“I appreciate it” Rantaro commented.

The students decided to have dinner as a group yet again. Some wished to discuss what the next plans were and others just wanted to socialise. Rantaro had actually offered to help Kirumi with meal preparation (as he had quite a bit of previous training cooking while looking after his sisters) but Kirumi graciously turned down the offer, stating that she’d prefer to do the work alone. Kirumi had discarded Miu’s usual garters on her outfit, and wore much more modest clothing - much to Miu’s disdain. Miu made up for it enough with her revealing outfit (saying that she may as well ‘show off Kirumi’s nice legs’). 

The meal was wonderful, though. Everybody thanked Kirumi for her hard work in not letting the place run amock. She accepted the thanks graciously and gracefully, as expected of an ultimate maid - though right after she began giving Kokichi a stern telling off for sitting messily at the table.

Korekiyo used this time together to just observe the students rather than partake in many discussions, he preferred it that way. Everyone had coped surprisingly well with such a situation - oh the beauty of humanity! While everybody had such odd personalities, they all meshed surprisingly well. Even when Kaito angrily yelled at Kokichi, it was almost humorous to watch, everybody had such a chemistry in a way Korekiyo could never understand.

Korekiyo was used to being an outcast. After his sister had passed and he had discovered the land, the locals never welcomed him or appreciated him there. Korekiyo didn't mind of course, he went to places to observe people , not to partake in conversations.. Still.. A part in the back of his mind was extremely empty at the thought that nobody wished to talk to him often

Rantaro had been an exception as of late. Rantaro frequently turned to Korekiyo to check if the man was okay and just generally made sure the man wasn’t overwhelmed. It was the first time somebody cared enough to check on him. Korekiyo knew that Rantaro was genuinely a polite guy - so he would probably do the same for anybody else on the table - put just the prospect that somebody was looking out for him made Kiyo content. 

It certainly could be much worse, his position right now. Despite this whole situation and body, Korekiyo almost found that he was enjoying himself. 

Odd how some circumstances turn out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a massive urge to cosplay Rantaro midway through writing this, but i quelled that urge as it is currently late and my brain couldn't possibly focus on it. That fact wasn't related to the fic at all, it's just what my brain was thinking throughout this whole chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was not going to write a chapter tonight, but I gave in to myself. apologies that its short, I didn't want to drag it on too long i think it fit the mood better this way. (also i appreciate everyone who leaves comments and kudos so much, it like.. reminds me that real people read this hsgssh)

“I need help deciding” Rantaro confessed, while the two of them sat in their room.

Korekiyo furrowed his brows.

“Deciding what, if I may ask?” Korekiyo questioned.

“Whether to show the others my survivor video or not. It could help them create a lead.. But what if they decide to incriminate me as a mastermind or even worse.. Inflict harm upon me because they’re suspicious of me” Rantaro stressed. It was very out of his usual calm persona, Korekiyo wasn’t used to seeing Rantaro so preoccupied. 

“I’m not sure if I could fully give a conclusion to you on that. I will not be letting anybody harm you, but I would not be able to change others perceptions of you” was Korekiyo’s response. 

Rantaro bit at some dry skin on his lip, deep in thought.

“I'm more than sure everybody thinks you’re a good and sincere person. Knowing you, you could explain easily that you have no memory of anything this video discusses at all” Korekiyo added. 

“What if they discover some information on me that I myself didn’t know previously?” Rantaro pondered.

“Are you genuinely considering that you may be the mastermind?” Korekiyo implored.

“No. I do not believe so. I know for a fact that i am not the mastermind.. But i may not be as good of a person that i thought i was. What kind of person would enjoy a killing game to the point of wanting another one?” Rantaro stated.

“These are all things that need to be uncovered. Regarding you needing help to decide what to do, i will not give you my decision - but i have fed my opinion. There are pros and cons to both options and i shall stand by whichever one you take” Korekiyo remarked.

“I’ll be honest with you, Thank you. I realised that I probably need to decide for myself” Rantaro agreed. 

Korekiyo gave a small nod. 

“Would you like to hear about what i’m reading?” Korekiyo asked, gesturing the the book he held up.

“Yeah, for sure” Rantaro replied, perching on the arm or the chair Korekiyo sat on to get a view of the pages of the book that was being regarded.

“It’s about a test that was done a small while ago, the idea that there is a tendency for many people to act rudely, aggressively, or illegally when their faces and names are hidden. A group of people had control over a man’s life for a day, with the man being unaware. The people who could make the decisions were all anonymous. With their identities hidden, this group tended to go fully for all the bad options - leaving the poor man robbed and accused of many things. The group making the decisions didn’t seem to mind, they found the ordeal funny. The same group did the same with their faces broadcasted and they all were simply nicer. It’s a simple phenomenon but is so very interesting.” Korekiyo explained, hands gesturing and making movements on certain parts to emphasize his points.

“That makes a lot of sense now that i think about it” Rantaro commented “Do you think that if this killing game was anonymous we would’ve had somebody dead by now?”.

“I would assume so. I must admit I am glad we are not told to keep our identities a secret” Korekiyo voiced.

“At least we are not being broadcasted like the group were, i would hate that.” Rantaro disclosed

“While i agree it wouldn’t be great, why would you hate it so much?” Korekiyo wondered.

“I can’t imagine the world seeing my face. I was never one to be confident with it and having it broadcasted wouldn’t be the best, even if I'm not in the current body right now.” sighed Rantaro.

“I must admit i'm surprised to hear you aren’t confident in your appearance” Korekiyo revealed.

“Everybody seems to think I am some sort of playboy or womaniser due to my looks while I am nothing of the sort. I’ve never been the most confident about my face and having others assume i am , for lack of better words, a douchebag.. Isn't great” Rantaro claimed “Perhaps that’s why i wasn’t so concerned about the whole body swap aspect of this so much. Sure, i was very surprised, but i wasn't angry about it. I was on the lucky side to be switched with you, as you’re not unattractive in any way. “

“Have you ever heard the saying that ‘your current face is the face of the one you loved the most in your past life’?” Korekiyo implored. 

“No, I must admit I haven't heard that one” Rantaro replied, a look of curiosity on his face. 

“I believe it’s a beautiful thought. The idea that who you are now is dictated by the life before” Korekiyo stated, giving a small contemplative smile. “It gives you a reason to not dislike your current self, as there must’ve been a reason for you to end up how you are today”.

Rantaro mirrored Korekiyo’s peaceful smile.

“I like that. I like that a lot” Rantaro stated.

“It may be out of line to say this, but I hope a part of you carries with me to my next life, wherever that may be” Korekiyo expressed.

Rantaro gave a nod, smile affectionate as he looked over at Korekiyo.

“I would like that, Let's stay together for our next life.” he proposed.

“Sounds promising” Korekiyo said with a light chuckle “I believe it is getting late, shall we head to bed?”.

Rantaro nodded.

“Do you wish to sleep in the same bed again? I kind of prefer it that way” Rantaro revealed.

“That sounds best for me too” Korekiyo agreed.

“Perfect” Rantaro responded.

It was calm.  
It was always calm when they were together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the anonymous thing was actually a great show. a bunch of people controlled an unknowing mans night with no consequences of such in anonymity. They ruined that poor mans life for a day. The saying about your previous life is indeed a Japanese saying but i predict it's a myth , still lovely to think about though.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im sorry for not posting yesterday! I stupidly felt bad about it despite knowing that it is no by means neccesary to upload chapters consecutively. Anyway! hello everybody - have fun with this one!
> 
> ( My discord is Eridan#8794 for anybody who wants to discuss amaguji i am love talking ab them)

The morning was peaceful, as it usually was these days. One thing that this whole situation had impacted positively was Korekiyo’s morning routine. Before he was surrounded by Rantaro, Korekiyo would wake up every morning in cold sweat from another nightmare. Nightmares and lack of sleep were very frequent for Korekiyo previously. It was nice to see that change. 

Korekiyo got ready and woke Rantaro up as always afterwards. Rantaro did his normal grumble and then got ready. Repeated routine, yet so nice. Korekiyo always considered himself one for patterns, so having lulled into a schedule with Rantaro so quickly made Korekiyo feel very accomplished.

Breakfast hall wasn’t filled with every student this time, so there was no meeting this morning. Shuichi and Kokichi sat at the corner, Shuichi messily tying the checkered neck scarf while Kokichi grinned - apparently teasing the other man for not knowing how to tie it. 

“Shall we sit next to them?” Rantaro suggested

Korekiyo would’ve preferred to just sit with Rantaro alone, but he figured Rantaro would prefer to chat with others.

“As you wish” Korekiyo responded.

Rantaro raised a brow at Korekiyo.

“We don’t have to, you know?” Rantaro chuckled.

“I do not mind, I believe you wish to talk to others” Korekiyo justified.

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable” Rantaro sighed.

“I can observe, I do not mind” Korekiyo pressed.

Rantaro gave Korekiyo a little look.

“Alright, tell me if you get overwhelmed at any point. I noticed you do when you talk to groups sometimes and I don't want you uncomfy because of me” Rantaro remarked.

“I shall do so” Korekiyo promised.

The two sat themselves down next to the blue and purple haired pair. 

“Taro! Shumai can’t even tie a scarf!” Kokichi declared, pointing at the scarf wrapped around Shuichi’s neck.

“..yes I can!” Shuichi declared, defending himself. 

“I mean, it's tied around his neck now so apparently he can” Rantaro observed.

“Yeah, but only after i told him to not be an idiot and just tie it normally! It’s so hurtful that you’d think i’d lie!” Kokichi shot back, voice trembling in ‘upset’.

Shuichi sighed dramatically.

“Just kidding! I couldn’t care less what you guys think about me!” Kokichi grinned gleefully.

“Im sure that’s the case” Rantaro replied, brow raised. He quickly turned his attention to Shuichi. “Oh! By the way, Shuichi, I have something to show you quickly.” 

“Feel free to show me” Shuichi responded, looking over in curiosity.

“Could I show just you? I need your input on it alone right now as you’re the detective” Rantaro stated.

“Aren’t we meant to stay in our designated pairs, ‘Taro? You can't just break the rules!” Kokichi whined, obviously not happy to be left out.

“We’ll be at the side of the room, you’ll be able to see us both” Rantaro confirmed.

With that Rantaro walked Shuichi to the corner and took his monopad out of his pocket.

Ah, thought Korekiyo, so he decided to get Shuichi’s input alone first. It was a smart move to see what the detective could infer from such a video.

.. Of course this now meant Korekiyo was left alone with Kokichi.

That wasn’t such a desirable situation.

“Kiyo!! I gotta say, you look nicer in ‘Taro’s body” Kokichi expressed.

Korekiyo chose to ignore Kokichi’s comment.

“You probably agree too right? He’s super attractive” Kokichi continued.

“Please don’t bother me with trivial things like this” Korekiyo stated.

“Ouch… cold Kiyo. I’m just trynna chat with you!” Kokichi frowned.

Korekiyo had to stop himself from doing an action as juvenile as rolling his eyes.

Kokichi grumbled and started playing with the cuffs on Shuichi’s uniform he was wearing.

“Wonder what the two of them are talking about..” Kokichi reflected.

“I don’t think you should worry about it” Korekiyo countered.

“You know, right? Its soooo unfair!” Kokichi whined.

“I’m not stating that i know, i just believe you should let them discuss what they need to discuss” Korekiyo acknowledged

“Of course you know, ‘Taro tells you everything. You guys are like super close now right?” Kokichi noted. 

“In a sense we’ve become friends, yes” Korekiyo answered.

“Ughhh you guys literally do everything together” Kokichi advanced.

“Indeed. We are meant to stick together with our pairs” Korekiyo retaliated.

Kokichi pouted. 

“Whatever. You’re more of an idiot than I thought” Kokichi revealed.

Korekiyo didn’t bother responding or showing any reaction at all this time. It was a waste of time when faced with Kokichi.

Kokichi played with his hair (and ahoge) as two of them waited silently for their partners to return back to the table. Korekiyo watched Shuichi and Rantaro talking across the room. Shuichi seemed concerned but luckily not in a ‘suspicious of Rantaro’ way - just in a way where the need to solve a mystery was plastered on his face. Rantaro played with the long green hair as he seemingly listened intently to whatever Shuichi was saying, nodding along. Eventually the two started to head their way back to the table and Korekiyo could see Kokichi visibly perk up as he heard Shuichi’s voice near the area they were sitting.

“Hey! Sorry for the long wait” Rantaro apologised to Korekiyo, sitting next to him. Then afterwards a “Are you okay?” was whispered in his direction.

Korekiyo nodded. 

Rantaro seemed glad that Korekiyo was doing alright and gave a smile.

A conversation was struck up between Kokichi, Shuichi and Rantaro - but Korekiyo like usual chose to just sit silently. Time passed quicker than he realised, however, and soon Rantaro was getting up and gesturing at Korekiyo to follow him.

“Thanks guys! It was great talking to you!” Rantaro declared to the two boys.

Shuichi and Kokichi gave their replies and with that Korekiyo and Rantaro made their way out of the dining room.

“Library?” was Rantaro’s first suggestion.

“Do you still wish to go there after the incident?” Korekiyo worried.

“I’ll be fine! After all, I accepted Kaede’s apology and no traps have been set in there this time” Rantaro chuckled.

“Then yes , The library would be great” Korekiyo answered, smiling back (He hoped Rantaro would recognise that he was smiling through the mask).

It was only a short walk to the big room. The Library was just as large and as peaceful as Korekiyo remembered - being surrounded with books was something he liked greatly.

“Where is everybody else, I wonder?” Korekiyo thought aloud “There are not many people around the school building today”.

“I think Himiko is hosting some sort of magic show and a bunch of others are attending” Rantaro explained.

That made slightly more sense to Korekiyo. It would be.. concerning if half the students simply disappeared. 

“It’s wonderful to hear that Himiko is still using her wonderful talent to bring joy even while in this situation. Truly fascinating” Korekiyo remarked.

“I didn’t think of it that way actually, yeah you’re right. Do you think she can still do her magic in Tenko’s body?” Rantaro wondered.

“Guess the others shall find out today” Korekiyo replied.

Rantaro shook his head, grinning.

“Let’s hope it works then, for her sake”

It was hard to find just one book to read from such an extensive amount, Korekiyo found. Everytime he found a book he was truly interested in he would find another three that were just as captivating. Rantaro claimed that Korekiyo could just take them all back to the room as the boy managed to finish several books in such a short time anyway, but Korekiyo didn’t wish to be selfish and borrow over twenty books. Finally he managed to settle for five books out of the large amount he had looked at and brought those over to a table at the side. Rantaro brought two books over as well.

“It’s been a while since I've read something” Rantaro admitted “I must say though that I've always been a sucker for adventure books, no matter how childish they are”.

“Adventure books can be extremely entertaining when done right, I believe. It’s all in how they’re written” Korekiyo agreed.

“I think my real love for adventure books started after I started searching for my sister a while ago” Rantaro admitted.

“This is the first I've heard of such an event” Korekiyo revealed.

Rantaro widened his eyes.

“Have I not told you? Oh my god. I have twelve sisters, I really care for them dearly…” Rantaro trailed off slowly, remembering Korekiyo’s own trauma with his sister.

“Go on” Korekiyo pushed, showing he was okay with the subject.

“Many years ago,my family and I went on a boating trip. It was my first one, I’d always liked traveling. Once we reached a port, I got off the ship to look around. My youngest sister followed me off the boat without me even realizing and as a result, she disappeared and was never found. I to this day believe it was my fault this happened in the first place.. And that my sisters probably hate me as a result, so I went looking for her everywhere since.” Rantaro explained.

Korekiyo was completely lost on how to respond.

“It’s alright, though, as I know I'll find her one day - I just need to get out of here alive” Rantaro claimed.

“You’ll get out of here alive. I am hoping we all will” Korekiyo remarked.

Rantaro nodded.

The two shared a moment in comfortable silence.

Suddenly, the library door burst open.

Kaede and Maki rushed into the room. It was almost a Deja vu of sorts.

“Oh! Korekiyo and Rantaro!” Kaede exclaimed.

“Ryoma has been hurt in the theatre, we’re gathering everybody there right away” Maki announced in a tense tone.

Both men got up in a hurry and they all rushed over to the theatre to see what awaited them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> juju on that beat


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Indeed I took a 2 day break! However in that time i've gotten a bunch of supportive comments (And discord Dms!!) Which genuinely made my days. Originally this chapter was much longer but i've decided to split it into two parts to make it easier for me.. and with that it's currently 3am so i shall zoom off for the night.

Time stopped as the small group ran over to the theatre. Thoughts ran through Rantaro’s head at a frantic rate. Was Ryoma dead? What would happen? Would that mean Kaito would stay in Ryoma’s body forever?

They threw open the door to the theatre and were greeted by an expected yet terrifying sight. On the stage at the back of the room lay Ryoma with a blood puddle around his head. A crowd gathered around the stage while others quickly ran onto the stage to help him and get a sense for how much blood was lost from this event. 

While nobody knew quite how to react in such a situation - Kirumi, Shuichi , Maki, Korekiyo and Angie were the quickest to get back to their senses. Four of them clambered onto the stage, surrounding Ryoma and taking in the damage as well as they could while Korekiyo stood and watched the reaction to the proceeding. 

“He’s not dead yet” Maki confirmed.

“Was this done purposefully?” Angie fretted. As she tried to reach over and observe the wound the sleeve of her yellow sweater dipped into the blood pooled around. She quickly pulled away and squealed. 

Maki ran out of the room. Shuichi frowned as he watched her go, assuming that she knew what she was doing. Since everybody had gathered in the theatre there was no chance of a possible murderer going to attack her but it would’ve been more helpful for her stay and keep everybody under control, especially Kaito.

Speaking of the astronaut, he stared wide-eyed at the body. It was no wonder the man was even more aghast than the rest of the students as he was currently gazing at his own body in such a position. This occurrence was also directly affecting him. 

“What the FUCK!” Yelled Miu, obviously startled.

Himiko made some warbled distressed sounds. Tenko was quick to try to comfort her, wrapping her arm around the mage in a protective stance.

Gonta seemed like he couldn’t quite grasp what was displayed in front of him. It was obvious the man didn’t believe someone could actually be harmed in such a manner purposefully. 

A loud banging was heard as the doors of the theatre slammed open again. Maki ran in, this time with something in her hands. She climbed back onto the stage and positioned herself next to Ryoma again. At a second glance Shuichi realised that the item Maki had brought with her was a first aid kit. 

Maki opened the first aid kit and swiftly bandaged the head of Ryoma as quickly as she could to stop more blood from pooling out. She placed her hand on his chest to get a sense for his breathing rate and signalled for Kirumi, who was standing near, to help her out. Kirumi briskly held Ryoma's head up , so the blood flow would soak into the bandage and pour out less while Maki checked for any other blood loss in the body.

Shuichi was extremely impressed in how Maki controlled the situation. The control and the knowledge she had in this situation was extremely professional. Perhaps she had to take care of lots of kids in the past - after all, she was the Ultimate child caregiver. 

Kaede ran up to Shuichi at that moment.

“Shuichi! Have you figured out a way this may have happened?” Kaede questioned.

“It was definitely a blow to the head - I have no clue who may have done such a thing yet, though. I need to search around, but currently we need to make sure Ryoma lives” Shuichi announced. 

“I totally agree. Ryoma is our main priority” Kaede replied, nodding. She looked very genuinely nervous over this whole situation.

Kokichi on the other hand had snapped out of his initial shock and was now peering over Maki and the others looking after Ryoma. 

“Wooow Maki! You sure know a lot about how to help in a situation like this” Kokichi pondered.

Maki didn’t bother to look up and continued to make sure Ryoma stayed breathing. 

“Kokichi, leave them alone.” Shuichi called out.

“Don’t you think it’s odd she was so prepared, Mr Detective?”Kokichi grilled.

Shuichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I’m going to look around, I’m sure Ryoma’s body is in good hands with Maki and Kirumi” Shuichi announced. He then begrudgingly motioned for Kokichi to follow him , as to stick with his pair. 

Rantaro turned around to Korekiyo, who was watching this scene unfold with a weird fascination.

“Should we.. do something to help? I feel so useless standing here in shock” Rantaro suggested.

“I wouldn’t recommend I help on any of the healing aspects, as I only have the basics and none of that envelops blood related injuries. We may try to help Shuichi with his detective work, though I wouldn't want to make things harder for him in the end” Korekiyo stated.

“I get what you mean… It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a little look around. I’m hoping that Ryoma manages to recover and we can uncover the whole mystery on why this happened” Rantaro remarked.

“It’s a shame we don’t have some sort of nurse or doctor on our team, however the others do seem to be trying their best so i am hoping for a recovery” Korekiyo voiced.

“What I don’t understand is.. Wouldn’t everybody have been with their pairs?” Rantaro mused.

“That’s what we had hoped for. Perhaps figuring this out may be easier if we conclude who wasn’t with their pairs the time this happened” Korekiyo presumed. 

From the corner of his eye Rantaro saw Shuichi go over to Tenko and Himiko to ask some things. Presumably this was because they were there when this event was uncovered. What Rantaro wondered was why Kaito had left Ryoma alone at the time.

Rantaro spared one more glance toward Ryoma up on the stage and saw that he was leaning against Maki in a half sitting-up position. He was probably very heavy against Maki as he was much bigger than her in Kaito’s body. However, he seemed to be looking in a better state than before and the blood was stopping to flow, so perhaps that was good news after all. 

Angie, Tsumugi, Kiibo and Gonta were crowded in the corner - presumably discussing the whole situation amongst themselves. 

Time was past as everybody tried their best to chip in with whatever they could to this investigation. Ryoma was carefully carried to his room with Kaito to rest (Where Maki and Kaede and Kaito were stationed to keep watch on him and his condition - It was originally just Maki wanted but then the remaining pairs tagged along). 

Rantaro and Korekiyo had discussed a lot with Shuichi in the meantime. Not all too much was found but there was a pair of handcuffs as well as a broomstick found at the back. This stick was considered to be the item to knock Ryoma out. What Shuichi didn’t understand however was what the culprit was going for. If they wanted Ryoma dead why didn’t they continue what they were doing? Ryoma was pretty much at the brink of death in the position he was left.

They had figured out that Ryoma wasn’t left alone for long. Kaito had gone somewhere alone for a little while and left Ryoma alone in the theatre area for what couldn’t have been longer than 20 minutes. Perhaps the culprit felt they were short on time?

A meeting was called. While all the students ate their dinner they discussed the situation they were left in. Maki entrusted Kaito to look after the unconscious Ryoma while she went to join the discussions (though she made him promise that he’d run over to the dining hall in the slightest moment anything happened). 

“This shall be a makeshift trial of sorts..” Shuichi established “Monokuma said there would be a trial when a body was found, but luckily we haven’t come to the position where anyone’s found dead. However, we still have to get behind this incident”.

“Everybody just lay down all the information you’ve gathered, as well as any alibis you may have for this morning” Kaede declared.

“Angie, Tenko, Kiibo, Gonta ,Himiko and I were all present in the theatre all morning, Kaede and Maki also joined towards the end.” Tsumugi claimed.

“That’s enough of an Alibi for us, right?” Tenko proposed.

“I don’t see why not. Anyone else want to put forward what they were doing?” Shuichi questioned.

“I was with Kiyo at the library” Rantaro pitched in.

“I can confirm that’s where we found them” Kaede agreed.

“I was in my room or whatever, Kirumi was hanging there too” Miu alleged.

“Wait.. where were Kaito and Ryoma at this time then? Tsumugi didn’t mention them at the theatre this morning despite Kaito claiming they were there” Shuichi contended.

There was a tense silence in the room.

Everybody in the room was on edge.. The atmosphere was untrusting.

“Why don’t we just look at physical evidence found for now” Maki said, tone hard, pushing the discussion further.

Shuichi explained his discovery of the broomstick and handcuffs. Everyone had agreed that the stick was certainly the main weapon though there was some discussion over the handcuffs.

“Maybe they were just used for some kink thing earlier and not taken away?” Miu suggested.

“Were they really there for the culprits plan?” Kiibo fretted.

“I’m assuming the culprit wished to tie Ryoma’s hands up but couldn’t for an unknown reason” Korekiyo theorised.

“I am inclined to agree with Korekiyo” Shuichi remarked “The culprit probably had some use for it but didn’t go through with it”.

There was yet another silence. Rantaro played with his (or perhaps better to say Korekiyo’s) long dark-green hair, trying to silence his mind. It was obvious that everybody was slightly afraid, whether they showed it or not. 

“Now to clear up where Kaito and Ryoma were this morning” Shuichi affirmed.

“Kaito was at the theatre this morning..” Came a small voice from Himiko.

Everybody looked over at her in interest.

“While.. While I was setting up for my show I saw him and Ryoma hanging around just outside the door” Himiko claimed.

“Why didn’t i see this?” Tenko advanced.

“You were trying to find the ladder that had been misplaced” Himiko muttered.

“Did you see anything else?” Kirumi pushed.

“I assumed they were waiting for my show.. I didn’t look at them for long..” Himiko mumbled.

“So Kaito wasn’t really lying.. But if that’s when Ryoma went missing why didn’t he mention it?” Shuichi expressed.

The situation was not going to be solved easily, apparently. They needed to wait for Ryoma to wake up for the full thing.

“Saihara kun! I can’t believe you missed the most vital clue!” Came a sudden shrill laugh from Kokichi “I must admit i hoped you would’ve picked up on it earlier, but i guess even some detectives have limits”

“What is it that I missed?” Shuichi frowned.

Kokichi pulled out a pair of gloves from his pocket, each dabbled in blood.

“So, Kirumi.. Care to explain?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maid mom i love you


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And i am back once again! This chapter took lots of effort out of me i wasn't sure how to progress on some parts, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! It's 2am so i shall upload this and.. probably not sleep but i'll use my time to relax now.

Kirumi looked up.

“I fail to understand how a pair of gloves point to me as a suspect” Kirumi expressed.

“Kokichi. Please don’t cause unnecessary trouble” Shuichi warned. 

“Wooow! I really thought you were the detective in this thing Shuichi! I guess not…” Kokichi trailed off. Kokichi then gave a big grin. “Luckily, I used to do detective work too!”

“You did..?” Shuichi wondered, a doubtful expression on his face.

“That was actually a lie! I just picked up some stuff in my time as an evil supreme leader!” Kokichi cackled.

“Shut the fuck up and get on with it!” Miu yelled, slamming her hand down on the table.

Kokichi chucked the gloves onto the table.

“Kirumi wears gloves right?” Kokichi remarked. 

“This is not concrete proof at all” Maki replied, coldly.

Kokichi pouted.

“Really? That was so mean of you to say” He whined. 

“Kokichi, these point to nothing. Anybody can put gloves on.Kiyo and miu are also both wearing gloves. ” Rantaro remarked.

“God. I was lying when I said that the proof was just because she wears gloves. You guys are so against me” Kokichi grumbled.

“So, are you going to tell us?” Shuichi pressed.

“I’m not quite sure I want to anymore” Kokichi mused.

Maki suddenly stood up from her seat and grabbed the gloves from the table.

Kokichi let out a squeal of indignation.

“Fine. look carefully then.” Kokichi crowed.

Maki passed the gloves over to Shuichi, who started to inspect the gloves.

He then saw what Kokichi meant.

“Kirumi, may i quickly look at the gloves you are currently wearing?” Shuichi requested.

Kirumi gave a slight frown and placed her hands forward on the table for display.

To anybody it looked like regular halfcut black gloves. There were many doubts around the table about how two gloves can point to Kirumi.

Then Miu whipped her head towards Shuichi.

“Hand me those gloves quickly” She demanded.

Shuichi handed them over. Miu gave them a look over and a look of upset flickered over her face.

“How fuckin stupid..” Miu mumbled.

“As Miu probably could tell, these gloves have the gems on them that Miu’s original gloves had” Shuichi claimed.

Everyone craned their necks to look over at the gloves. Indeed, the discarded blood-splashed gloves had the ten gems lined up as Miu’s original costume had, which are the ones Kirumi kept wearing. 

The ones Kirumi now wore were plain black and fingerless, they were missing the gems that were originally meant to be there.

“You cannot be serious.These gloves give no indication of me being the culprit” Kirumi reasoned. 

“Then may you explain why you have switched gloves with the ones that are covered in blood?” Shuichi asked.

Kirumi opened her mouth, frowning. She seemed to consider what she was going to say and closed her mouth again. A sense of panic was setting in on her.

“I’m so proud of you for figuring out shumai!” Kokichi grinned.

Shuichi glared at the other boy. Did Kokichi really doubt his intelligence that much? 

“Why would you leave such obvious evidence behind, you idiot?” Miu remarked.

Kirumi looked down.

“It was not.. To plan.” Kirumi admitted.

Everybody around the table fell into silence, nobody could quite believe somebody like Kirumi would be the culprit. Kirumi was the least expected person from all the students to be harmful.. And if she could almost murder a person, anybody could. 

“I believe we should listen to why Kirumi would do such a thing” Korekiyo suggested.

“Please tell us everything, we’re missing lots of information” Kaede agreed, nodding. 

Kirumi let out a sigh.

“I see. I guess I should explain. My motive was inexplicably selfish, I wished to leave. I had the feeling that something important was waiting for me, something I needed to leave for. I cannot just stay around in this body and wait for something to be figured out. Ryoma himself told me that he was ok with being used for such a thing, so I took my opportunity” Kirumi announced.

The table went quiet again. Everybody was in an utter state of shock. Rantaro could feel a big sense of fear creeping up on him as he played with the long dark green hair. 

“I made a plan. I would knock Ryoma out and then drag him into the tank… I had a much worse thing planned than what eventually took place. Unfortunately, I made a fatal mistake.. I didn’t keep in mind how hard it would be to knock Ryoma out in Kaitos body. Ryoma was no longer small - he would take much more to fully knock out” She continued, playing with the hem of her long skirt to keep her mind occupied as she recalled the information. “The desired plan would have been to invite Ryoma to my room the night before to have knocked him out and then leave him in the tank to be discovered the next day. Unfortunately, with the fact we have to stay in pairs i couldn’t do so - so i asked to talk to him quickly today, hence why Kaito and Ryoma were found outside the theatre. Miu didn’t notice that i had slipped out of the room as she was in the bathroom taking a shower and applying makeup.”

“What did you talk to Ryoma about when you were with him? Why didn’t Kaito let anyone know he was missing?” Shuichi urged.

“I asked if i could take Ryoma to the back to talk to him. I certainly hadn’t planned it out as well as I could, but I was pressed for time. If Miu was to figure out i was gone it would be a harder situation for me. I brought Ryoma around, promising Kaito that I wouldn't be long. I then successfully manage to.. Immoblise Ryoma for a bit.. But this was not enough. He wasn’t unconscious and was struggling against me. I guess i panicked after this - i assumed i could knock him unconscious but with him fighting against me i didn't stand a chance. I left him struggling on the ground as I ran.” Kirumi recounted, voice wobbling in distress. 

“Ryoma must’ve dragged his body from the back to the stage, to make himself seen” Angie considered.

“That explains the dragged bloodstains” Tsumugi agreed.

“Kirumi, your plan was to actually murder Ryoma?” Rantaro interrogated.

“Indeed. I’m sure I made that clear enough. Looking back on it now, I was not prepared enough.. It was a very foolish plan” Kirumi replied regretfully. 

“What about Kaito? He was left there.” Shuichi continued.

“When I saw him again I was in a rush. I told him Ryoma had decided to make his way back alone and he did not press me on why. He almost seemed relieved that he could go back to his room - he looked faint” Kirumi remembered.

“Was he ill?” Maki fretted

“I’m not sure. Perhaps he wasn’t feeling well and needed to get back to the room quickly. Whatever the case, he didn’t argue with me.” Kirumi responded. 

“So to summarise, You lured Ryoma to the back and hit him over the head with the broomstick. He did not go unconscious as you planned so you freaked and hurried. I'm assuming you quickly changed your gloves to get rid of the blood splatter from the hit on the head and .. left the dirtied gloves there?” Shuichi tried to recap.

“No. I had assumed i had brought the bloodied pair of gloves back with me, alas they must've fallen out of my pocket as i tried to run from the area” Kirumi mused.

“Did nothing else have blood on?” Korekiyo pondered, surprised “a hit like that must’ve been clean to leave only your gloves dirtied”.

“Small bits of blood must’ve soaked into my skirt too, but they were not as noticeable” Kirumi noted. 

“Kirumi! Why would you even do something like that for a reason like just ‘getting out’? We’re all stuck in the position, we agreed to help everyone escape!” Tenko demanded angrily “I can’t let another woman just do acts like that, it sounds like something a man would do!”.

“Currently, both murder attempts that have happened here have been the result of a female” Korekiyo pointed out.

Tenko looked as if she was about to make a very angry rebuttal, so Rantaro decided to step in. 

“Let’s not get sidetracked. We can’t.. Keep letting people get hurt.” Rantaro stated.

“This iiisss a killing game..” Kokichi mused.

“Does that mean we have to kill and give in? We can stick together!” Kaede pointed out.

“I must say i apologise for everything i’ve done.. I’m not expecting forgiveness in any way. I felt the desperate need to get out of here at the time but i shall never try and act like that again. I know that I have ruined my name and that nobody here will quite trust me again - but I shall try my best to make it up to everybody, especially Ryoma” Kirumi apologised, deep regret in her voice.

Nobody dared to speak up and forgive her just yet. They weren’t even sure if Ryoma would recover well enough.. It just didn’t seem right to do. 

“Wait, what were the handcuffs that were found at the scene for?” Tsumugi remembered.

“Ah, those? I had been planning to lock them around Ryoma's hands in case he had woken up after I had knocked him out, though I luckily never had the chance to do so..” Kirumi admitted.

“I guess we’ve figured stuff out ourselves then..” Shuichi wrapped up “I'm glad Kirumi did not resist admitting her story, at least that part was simple enough”

“There would’ve been no point to resistance” Kirumi expressed.

“Wait.. do I have to still sleep in the same room as her??” Miu voiced.

“Miu, I promise you that no harm will come to you if you stay in the same room as me, but I understand the concern” Kirumi replied. 

“Why do we have so many creeps here” Miu muttered.

“Are we done?” Himiko wondered

“All information we can get has been gathered, right?” Kiibo claimed.

“Yes, until Ryoma is up this is all we can really do. We also need to ask Kaito some specifics” Shuichi confirmed. 

“Wait a second” Kokichi interrupted “I have one thing i want to bring up”.

“What’s wrong?” Kaede asked.

“Well.. Maki, how were you so good at acting fast in a situation like this? You knew exactly what to do!” Kokichi raised.

“I’ve treated injuries a lot” Maki replied, crossing her arms.

“Oh yeah I forgot! As a child caregiver you must look after lotsss of people right?” Kokichi mused. 

Maki gave him a silent glare.

“Kokichi, please don’t stir up drama” Shuichi sighed.

“Alright Mr detective, I’ll do what you say!” Came a cheery response from the boy.

“And with that.. Our ‘trial’ is over?” Tsumugi presumed, looking over at Shuichi for confirmation.

“Yeah.. you guys can go now” Shuichi responded.

“Thanks for helping us clear this up Shuichi” came a grateful voice from Kaede.

Shuichi flashed Kaede a flustered smile. 

“No problem! Happy to help!”

Rantaro and Korekiyo walked back to their room in silence, both of them deep in thought.

Finally Korekiyo spoke up after they entered through the door.

“Truly is a shame, Kirumi was such an interesting personality” Korekiyo contemplated.

“She was so nice, she always tried to help us cook for us! I can’t believe she’d do something like that” Rantaro admitted “Unlike Kaede, she had a true intention to kill somebody innocent”.

“I still believe that there is more than meets the eye here that we have yet to uncover” Korekiyo theorised. 

“I hope so, I can't just leave it on that note” Rantaro stated. 

Korekiyo took a long look at Rantaro.

“This incident really shook you up, didn’t it?” Korekiyo noted.

“I pride myself on being strong.. but the idea that someone I really trusted could do this was just very shocking to me” Rantaro admitted. 

“There is nothing wrong with being upset over this, you know. It is fine to feel betrayed” Korekiyo affirmed.

“I just hope Ryoma wakes up fine..” Rantaro mentioned “I really don’t want anyone to die, even if it seems inevitable at some point”.

Korekiyo nodded and sat down next to the other man.

“I must admit I've never been much good on advice and calming others down, but i would like to state that I'm always here for you Rantaro.” Korekiyo disclosed. “I’m not sure what this killing game may hold for us, but i will stick here with you till the end”.

Rantaro gave a small smile to the boy next to him, but it was a genuine one.

“I sure hope you’ll stay with me, Kiyo - since I’m not getting away from you any time soon” Rantaro remarked, leaning against the other man.

Korekiyo found that he surprisingly didn’t tense at the touch. 

“I’m glad to hear it” Korekiyo replied with a small chuckle. Despite wearing his mask, he knew that Rantaro could tell that there was a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The structure of her crime is a bit.. messy. I wished to use the glove idea that was in her original trial where a part of her glove was ripped off and in the tank - but it just wasn't working in my story so I had to write my own little plot. Loose ends will be tied, i promise, i just can't let TOO much be revealed in one mini trial.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been very tired recently, but i'm still trying my hardest to get chapters out! i take like a 3 days break or so and then update, but i have no specific schedules or anything - after all this is just for fun.

When Korekiyo woke up the next morning something felt different. He quickly opened up his eyes to notice that the difference was that Rantaro was not asleep next to him as he usually would be. Korekiyo quickly got out of bed to look around the room to see if Rantaro just happened to be in the bathroom.

Rantaro was nowhere to be found in the room.

Panic began to set in. Where could Rantaro be? Korekiyo was usually a pretty light sleeper, he couldn’t have slept through Rantaro getting up and leaving the room as far as he was aware. However, as sure as he was that he would have woken up - Rantaro was obviously not present in the room. 

Korekiyo quickly pulled on one of Rantaro’s usual shirts and a pair of jeans, mind set that he would look for Rantaro outside. As Korekiyo neared the door, though, he started to hear two voices.

One was slightly higher pitched , but not female sounding… the other was a lower voice that sounded mildly distressed. The lower voice was certainly Rantaro’s (or well.. his) - Korekiyo could easily recognise it - However Korekiyo neared the door to listen closer to the first voice to catch who it was.

After listening a little harder the voice was clear.

Kokichi Ouma.

Korekiyo wasn’t sure what to do next. Rantaro could be in some serious danger next to somebody as unpredictable as Kokichi, especially if the two were alone together. This sprung up more questions to Korekiyos head.. How had Kokichi left the room without Shuichi noticing? Had something bad happened in the first place?

It was decided that the best action plan would be to listen into the conversation for more information. Korekiyo pressed his ear to the door and tried his best to listen to what was happening. He felt bad about eavesdropping into a discussion that didn’t involve him, but it’s what must be done.

The voices were made more clear.

“It’s not a big deal!” Came the cheery voice of Kokichi, which already struck Korekiyo the wrong way.

“I’m just not sure. What do you even want?’ Rantaro responded.

“I’ll let you know once you agree” Kokichi mused.

“That's not a fair term” Rantaro remarked

“I see! So you’d prefer everybody to hate you?” Kokichi stated.

Korekiyo frowned. What would make everybody hate Rantaro?

“I have nothing to be scared about” Rantaro declared.

There was a small silence in the conversation, and then a muffled voice was heard. Korekiyo couldn’t make out what was said in that small space of time. 

“Nobody is going to die, Kaede and the others are going to do their best to keep everyone optimistic” Rantaro expressed.

“But you see, Who says I won't kill? Who says Kirumi won’t try again? Who says Kiyo won’t attempt? Your logic is flawed when it comes to us all. Not all of us can be coaxed into peace” Kokichi proposed, his usual unsettling grin practically conveyed through his tone.

Korekiyo froze at his name mentioned in the conversation. Was he really considered as one of the people most likely to kill? He didn’t blame anyone for thinking so - as he had his fair share of.. Blood on his hands - but it was slightly despairing to think that others thought he may be very violent. 

“Do not say that! Do you want others to die? Are you crazy?” Rantaro remarked, raising his voice. 

There was yet another faint line from Kokichi that Korekiyo couldn’t make out.

This line must’ve been angering, though, as Korekiyo heard a loud thump and then some noises of struggle coming from the other side of the door. Korekiyo decided this was a good time to check on what was actually happening as there was certainly a scuffle taking place.

Korekiyo quickly stepped out of the room to find Kokichi slumped against the wall, while Rantaro stood there pinning him there. 

“Rantaro!” Korekiyo sounded. Rantaro heard the voice and whipped his head to the other man in shock.

“Kiyo! Wait it’s not what it looks like!” Rantaro panicked, letting go off Kokichi and stepping away.

“How long have you been here for? I should've noticed you getting up” Korekiyo asked, muttering the second part. 

“Not long.. Kokichi called me out” Rantaro alleged.

Korekiyo looked over at Kokichi.

“It’s best if you go back to Shuichi right now” Korekiyo noted.

“He’s sleeping. He won’t even know i’m gone!” Kokichi grinned. 

“That doesn’t give you a right to call out Rantaro and cause problems” Korekiyo responded. He felt a bit like a teacher telling off a child.

Kokichi crossed his eyes grumpily and sighed.

“Whatever. I’ll go back to my room, Or i won't..you’ll never know!” Kokichi announced, pressing his hand against the wall to help him get up again.

Korekiyo chose not to indulge Kokichi’s little mind games and just grabbed Rantaro’s sleeve, gesturing for the man to enter the room again. 

Kokichi gave Rantaro a.. knowing look. Korekiyo watched as Rantaro quickly turned his head away from Kokichi and trooped back into the room. 

As soon as Korekiyo closed the door behind him he grabbed Rantaro’s arm to stop him from locking himself in the bathroom.

“What happened?” Korekiyo asked.

“I heard a knocking on the door this morning so I figured I'd answer it. Turns out Kokichi wished to speak with me. I tried my best not to wake you” Rantaro stated.

“What was he trying to get you to do?” Korekiyo pushed.

“Ah, so you heard some of the conversation?” Rantaro replied. “Hey, it wasn’t such a big deal actually. He wanted me to do a favour for him”

“Why did he say others would hate you then?” Korekiyo asked.

“Oh, right! Yeah apparently Shuichi told him about the whole ‘i’m in my second killing game’ video without thinking much of it, but Kokichi threatened to tell everybody about it. I guess he thought that he may as well use me for it..” Rantaro noted.

“So he didn’t tell you what he actually wanted from you?” Korekiyo pushed.

“Nope. He expected me to blindly accept his terms. Stupid, really” Rantaro chuckled.

“What caused you to get so angry then?” Korekiyo remarked.

Rantaro went silent and looked to the side.

“He used you as leverage against me, I guess. Threatened to kill you. I knew he wouldn’t actually do something like that but it angered me for him to say something like that” Rantaro revealed.

While it wasn’t the right time, Korekiyo felt oddly touched that somebody would fly into a rage that fast over him. It was a wonderful sight to see a human become protective. Not that Korekiyo was assuming that Rantaro was trying to do something like protect him, of course, but it’s the natural instincts of a human to fight back after threats. 

“I see. You shouldn’t worry about me, I am fully capable of fending off Kokichi” Korekiyo assured.

“Yeah, I don’t doubt it for a second” Rantaro responded, smiling “He’ll probably tell everyone i cannot be trusted now. I don’t really worry too much since i think others will soon realise i'm not a bad person - but he seemed so sure that i would be a target by others too. I guess i should learn to not be caught off guard and open doors like i did this morning”.

“Make sure to wake me next time I'm ever somehow not awake. I shocked me to see you not next to me when I woke up” Korekiyo admitted.

“Nice to know you missed me” Rantaro stated, elbowing Korekiyo in a jokey manner.

“It’s more the worry that something bad may have happened to you” Korekiyo claimed, raising an eyebrow.  


“Nothing bad will happen to me” Rantaro assured, voice slightly lowered “I’ll stick by you, I promise”.

As the men went to eat breakfast they locked eyes with Kokichi, who took advantage of the fact that he was towering over Shuichi. Kokichi gave them a grin like nothing had happened less than an hour earlier and continued to torment Shuichi.

“Do you think I scared him off my being violent?” Rantaro fretted.

“No, I don’t believe so. Kokichi wouldn’t be intimidated that easily” Korekiyo admitted. 

Rantaro nodded in response and sat down at a table.

“I don’t wanna seem like a bad person” Rantaro confessed.

“Where did that come from?” Korekiyo asked, eyebrows drawn.

“Just a general thing, I guess. People always seem to assume i’m some sort of douche or shady guy.” Rantaro explained.

“Anybody who has had a conversation with you would be able to tell that you're not an unpleasant person.” Korekiyo guaranteed.

“It kinda helps hearing you say that.. Perhaps I'm too cynical of myself” Rantaro advanced “It feels even weirder because I'm seeing ‘myself’ say it”.

“Yet it is still coming from me” Korekiyo claimed.

Rantaro smiled.

“You sure do know how to boost my confidence, huh.” He observed.

“If that’s what you wish to call it. I just view a person's character and tell them what I see” Korekiyo answered. 

Suddenly a loud clanging noise came from the side of the room. Everybody who turned to see what was happening were greeted by the sight of Maki holding Kokichi in a choke hold. Shuichi and Kaede were clearly trying to de-escalate the situation at the side. 

“Kokichi must’ve pissed Maki off” muttered Rantaro to Korekiyo. Korekiyo agreed. Kokichi seemed to be angering everybody today, even more than usual.

“Hey!” Kokichi yelled, as he struggled in Maki’s grip.

Maki stared at the boy wordlessly before eventually letting him go.

“All i’m saying is you’re suspicious, just like everybody else here” Kokichi said, still continuing despite it probably not being the best idea for him “I’m also suspicious, after all!”

There was a slight pause.

“That's a lie! I'm an angel!” Kokichi announced.

Maki was not standing for it, she grabbed Kokichi by the hem of his shirt again and lifted him up.

“Well, this just proves my point more! Violence is superrr suspicious” Kokichi mused.

Maki frowned. She dropped the boy again and walked out of the room, Kaede quickly following behind her. 

Everybody else who happened to be in the dining hall sat in silence for a moment as they took in the bizarre scene that had just passed. Kokichi brushed himself off and began to talk to Shuichi as if nothing had happened, so everyone else in the room followed suit and continued their morning as normal. Kokichi had quite the track record of causing problems and then ignoring them. 

“I wonder if he also has some kind of information on Maki, as he did for me” Rantaro pondered.

“If he does, it means that your video being spread will have less of a blow. If he begins to spread the activities of everyone - then everybody will have something to be guilty for” Korekiyo reasoned.

“Yeah, you’re right actually. Didn’t even think of that” Rantaro stated.

Kaito and Ryoma were present in the room, meaning Ryoma had successfully recovered. Everybody was extremely glad to see him healthy and up on his feet again. Kiibo had filled the two of them in on what had happened in the makeshift trial and then left them to quickly explain their sides to Shuichi. Kaito must’ve given a valid reason to why he seemed in such a rush to return back to his room without Ryoma at the time of the crime, as Shuichi gave him a free pass for it. It was good to see some things improving, at least.

But something was nagging Rantaro at the back of his mind.

What favour did Kokichi want him to initially do anyway?

And why was it bugging him so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is probably my messiest yet i kept pausing throughout and had to deal w text drama in a gc so please ignore any mistakes I'll clean them up when it's not 2:30am.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I've been missing in action for a bit, i apologise! Everytime i sat down to write i would just.. stare at the screen and get distracted with my discord notifs or tiktok. Anyway, i tried my best to get my thoughts together and actually write. I know where my plot is heading but actually putting it in words is so hard if you know what i mean. but yeah i won't take up any more of your time! Enjoy!

After the events that morning, the day was unusually quiet. Rantaro and Korekiyo were left alone as they waited for anything, absolutely anything, to happen. Korekiyo was slightly suspicious that monokuma or the monokubs hadn’t intervened with new motives to cause the students to kill - as it didn’t seem like the bears would just wait around till something eventually happened, but he wasn’t going to complain that a new motive wasn’t set.

Time was difficult to figure out when trapped like they were, but they were able to tell that a few weeks had probably past. A few weeks with no action taken to find the mastermind and switch back their bodies. Well, action HAD been taken at some point, but it was chosen to be ignored since nobody really wanted to touch on the near deaths that had taken place. If a few weeks had already passed, how long would it continue? How long would they really stay trapped in the building and different bodies like this?

The idea of having to kill to get out of such a situation was almost comical to Korekiyo. The prospect of having to live the rest of his life like this seemed so much like a fictional tale - perhaps it was even more ironic that he was an anthropologist who thrived off seeing others reactions when they have to face traumatic or out of ordinary situations. If Korekiyo had some of his memories as to why he was here in the first place he may have even been okay with it… If he knew exactly what happened to put them all in such a position he may have been able to come up with a logical explanation. Currently he only had a foggy memory of his sister, that really only stuck with him due to his overthinking, and the memory that he liked anthropology. Half of his personality was lost and it was forming a slight gap with who he really was. Each day that past he felt like he was almost becoming less of a person.

There wasn’t even much of a purpose to Korekiyo’s days while he was in confinement, It was just him waiting around until another murder attempt happened. Rantaro seemed so determined that nobody would hurt others anymore, but Korekiyo logically knew that there was always a risk. Ouma had perhaps hit the nail on the head when stating that Kirumi may retry, or even that Korekiyo would attempt to do something. Now, Korekiyo wasn’t trying to plan any kind of murder - that was never his goal - but realitsically he didn’t know if he could just sit around and wait for something to happen. Everybody was just a sitting duck until something happened. 

Korekiyo wouldn’t dare say any of this out loud to Rantaro. The last thing he wanted was to disappoint the boy who he .. cared for and respected. Being honest here , Korekiyo couldn’t think of a better person to be switched with. Rantaro was extremely understanding. Others would’ve jumped for a chance to misunderstand Korekiyo and it was obvious the majority of the students imprisoned in the school didn’t trust him (or even like him the least bit). The mutual appreciation between Korekiyo and Rantaro was something Korekiyo really treasured. He wouldn’t let himself think too hard about it , whenever he did his chest seemed to close off and his heart rate seemed to quicken. It was quite a bother, but the feeling wasn’t necessarily bad. 

Korekiyo looked over at the said boy who was sitting on the library chair next to him, he was also lost in his own train of thought it seems. The men had coined the library as a location they visited regularly now, even if the place wasn’t filled with the best memories. Korekiyo still enjoyed the ambience of the large room filled with books, despite the bad news that had been revealed in this room two times previously. The only other people that ever entered the library were Tsumugi and Angie, who only ever entered and exited quietly. So the place was basically their own. 

“What’s wrong?” Korekiyo asked, turning around to Rantaro (who was playing with his.. Or rather Korekiyo’s.. long dark green hair). 

“Hm? Oh.. yeah, i’m just thinking about what Kokichi is planning” Rantaro admitted.

“You’re still hung up on him?” Korekiyo remarked, eyebrows drawn.

“He’s been problematic as of late. If he’s planning to out everybody for whatever secrets they hold it may be dangerous” Rantaro fretted.

Korekiyo thought about it for a moment. He would admit that people like Maki would probably freak out again, like she did earlier. Who knew what some of the students could do if they needed to hide a secret? 

“I understand where you’re coming from” replied Korekiyo.

Rantaro sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah. I also keep wondering what favour he wanted me to do when he called me out like that this morning, It must’ve been either very important or very dangerous for him to specifically ask someone else to do it” Rantaro noted.

“For now, I’d recommend you do not overthink such a thing right now… It won’t help you figure out what he was trying to ask you” Korekiyo proposed.

“I guess you’re right” Rantaro stated, chuckling. Rantaro looked over at Korekiyo with an unreadable expression and quickly looked back down to his bandage wrapped hands. 

Korekiyo could feel his chest begin to close up again from the small eye contact that had just taken place causing him to quickly get up his seat as a result to distract himself from that off feeling. 

“Perhaps we should leave here now? We’ve been sitting at this site for a while and I don’t wish to make others think we’ve taken over the whole library” Korekiyo suggested, clearing his throat.

Rantaro looked up at the other man with a confused expression but nodded.

“Uh, sure. I don’t think the others mind much that we’re here but if you wanna leave for a bit that’s fine too” Rantaro stated. 

“I feel as if we have left it too late to eat lunch, but if you’re hungry we can try to find some food” Korekiyo proposed. 

“Now that you mention it I am kinda hungry now, heh” Rantaro noticed.

Korekiyo gave a small smile and the two men began to leave the library, Korekiyo opening the door for Rantaro and gestured for him to go through in a way of politeness.

“Hey! You’re making me feel like a lady here” Rantaro chuckled.

Korekiyo raised a brow good-naturedly. While he was not the best at understanding social cues he could tell that Rantaro was trying to make a joke, so he figured he should retaliate with something else that could be considered humorous.

“Perhaps you’re as pretty as one” Korekiyo mused. 

This happened to be a perfect moment to showcase why Korekiyo shouldn’t just speak his mind without filtering what his brain is thinking. Korekiyo quickly tensed as soon as he caught up to what he had said.

Rantaro’s eyes were wide but he didn’t seem uncomfortable about the sudden unplanned compliment, just surprised.

“I’m flattered” Rantaro responded, and Korekiyo could tell the man was trying to suppress a grin.

“I apologise, I spoke without thinking” Korekiyo expressed.

Rantaro chose to respond by playfully elbowing Korekiyo and going through the door, holding his arm out in a way that mocked royalty to get Korekiyo to follow him. 

Korekiyo did indeed follow and the two went to grab something to eat.

The two had settled to simply grab some snacks that were lying around in the kitchen attached to the dining room to substitute for a meal - though Korekiyo had initially pointed out that it was not the healthiest option. 

Their conversation had lulled into simple chat, nothing too noteworthy yet it passed the time fine and entertained them both. Korekiyo found no problems with revealing interesting stories from different cultures and places. 

A moment later their conversation quickly halted to a stop as they heard the heavy dining room door slam shut. This was followed closely by loud voices arguing.

“Kokichi, give it back” came the exasperated voice of Shuichi.

“Whyy should i?” Kokichi replied, giggling.

It seemed like the two of them were not aware that Korekiyo and Rantaro were in the ajoined kitchen, but the hidden men didn’t make a move to make themselves known. 

“It may be dangerous, we don’t know what it does” Shuichi reasoned.

A thumping sound was made, accompanied by quick footsteps.

“Are you crazy?” Shuichi yelled.

Rantaro quickly rushed out to check what was happening - followed closely by Korekiyo - as the situation seemed to be escalating. Kokichi and Shuichi were surrounding an object that had been carelessly thrown onto the table.

The object turned out to be a green, circle shaped flashlight that has gold squares decorating the rim. The object didn’t seem particularly threatening, but nothing was really to be trusted in a place like a killing game.

“What is that?” Rantaro asked, eyebrows drawn.

Shuichi looked up in surprise at the other two mens arrival.

“Some sort of flashlight that I found lying around in the computer room on the fourth floor… I guess I was kinda rubbed the wrong way with how I found it there. It seemed too suspicious” Shuichi explained.

“I agree! A flashlight like this was used to kill people back when I was with the group I lead” Kokichi hummed, nodding his head.

“It did?” Shuichi replied, frowning.

“That was a lie! Of course a stupid flashlight can’t kill somebody, stupid!” Kokichi beamed.

“Lets.. not touch it. I have a bad feeling about it” Shuichi sighed.

“I am inclined to agree” Korekiyo nodded.

“You guys are so borrriinngg!” Kokichi grumbled.

Kokichi stared directly into Shuichi’s eyes, as if to test him. After giving a big grin he reached over and turned the flashlight on.

A blinding light filled the room and a horrible headache filled Rantaro’s head.

Yeah, it was probably better for them to have not touched that flashlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha flashback light.. haha memories... oh fuck Kiyo r u doin good man?


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Okay, so this is kinda important for the future of the fic so i'd recommend you read it! My joint pains have been flaring up again. They have been for most of my life but recently im in so much pain when writing i have to just stop. As well as my physical health deteriorating, my mental health is also doing pretty awful lately. This is making it so so hard to concentrate while writing. Now, dont get me wrong, i treasure this fic and will finish it no matter what!! but please just bare with me if it takes longer than i expect to get a chapter out. I can't sacrifice my actual health for this as much as i want to. That being said, all comment boost my serotonin levels greatly.. its funny, praise can really make a day. Anyway - sorry for keeping you long! Enjoy this chapter.. it's a ride.

The world around Rantaro crumbled into pieces, each bit being replaced by bright white light. Rantaro felt himself become enveloped by the luminous surroundings. 

It seemed almost as if words were forming around him, spoon feeding him information that he had been missing - old memories that were only just returning to him. His head was pounding but he couldn’t find it in himself to be scared, only confused.

The moment couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds but it felt like forever till Rantaro’s eyesight wasn’t glowing and blurry, migraine still in his head. Luckily, it seemed like the others also felt the same way as Shuichi was now kneeling on the floor and Korekiyo and Kokichi were leaning against the objects nearest to them. 

There was a silence as everybody tried their best to wrap their heads around the proceedings, and tried to take in the information that the flashlight had revealed. 

Rantaro was quickly remembering everything. How very useless he was when trying to find his sisters, down to detail. Slight memories of a foggy person discussing the killing game with him. This being was explaining the rules.. telling him he could make a video for himself as his survival perk.. telling him that he was guaranteed a long lasting time in the game. His childhood with his parents and sisters - the fun they had and the days they spent together.

These memories attacked Rantaro’s heart. The fondness he felt at his family.. How much he distrusted the person who was seemingly running this killing game.. It came rushing to his head like a waterfall.

He was snapped out of all his own personal thoughts, though, when a crash was heard to the right of him. He looked over to find that Korekiyo had knocked over a pot that had been lying on the table he had been leaning on. Korekiyo’s face had a warped expression of .. almost pain.. Despite being masked he could tell that the man was very shaken by whatever memories he had acquired.

Probably rightfully so. Rantaro knew Korekiyo had a troubling past. Korekiyo had entrusted him with his questionable relationship with his sister and the situations she put him through. If He could already remember the hardships he felt with her… what else was he remembering?

Rantaro didn’t have long to think as Korekiyo had picked himself up and swiftly made his way towards the door to exit the room. 

“Kiyo!” Rantaro called, trying his best to follow behind the man.

Korekiyo did not falter or turn back. He steadily quickened his pace and left the room - door slamming behind him.

Rantaro was lost for whether he should follow Korekiyo or not. The man was very obviously emotionally distressed at the minute. Perhaps… he would prefer to be alone to get his thoughts in check, that way he could reveal to Rantaro whatever memories he remembered later when he was in a better state of mind. 

Rantaro turned around to Kokichi and Shuichi, who were watching the small scene unfold.

“Are you guys okay?” Rantaro asked.

“Uh.. slightly shaken, i think… what even is that thing” Shuichi replied, gesturing to the flashlight that had fallen to the floor in the commotion.

“It probably is designed to return memories in an odd way” Rantaro noted, eyebrows knit.

“Did this only happen to us or did we like.. effect the whole school” Kokichi pondered, releasing the wall he was leaning onto and trying to steady himself back to his feet.

“That’s a good question” Was Shuichi’s response “I’ll go find Kaede and Maki to check up and see”.

“Why themmm!” Kokichi whined, apparently back to his insufferable state.

“They’re the most trustworthy to figure this out with, currently” Shuichi reasoned.

Rantaro decided to intervene before an argument of sorts happened.

“I'm going to find Kiyo, you guys figure out the situation. We’ll feedback at dinner?” was Rantaro’s suggestion.

The two other men nodded and Rantaro made a beeline to the door. It had suddenly come to his mind that it probably wasn’t actually the best idea to leave Korekiyo alone in a killing game in an emotionally vulnerable state, even if he was capable of defending himself. 

When Rantaro left the dining hall he was alone in the hallway. He had no idea where Korekiyo had actually gone to.

The first guess was their room, so that’s where he headed to first. Unfortunately, when he appeared at the door and peeked his head into the room - there was no sight of Kiyo. 

It was a large school. The man could’ve ran off to anywhere in the moment.

Suddenly Rantaro was really regretting letting Kiyo run off and not chasing after him. It was an irresponsible move. 

Thinking clearly, there was only one other place Rantaro could think of that Korekiyo would actually stay in comfortably and that was the library. 

Rantaro quickly made his way over there. 

As he opened up the heavy door leading into the large library, he was infact greeted with the sight of Korekiyo embracing himself while slumped on the same chair he had been sitting at earlier that morning. 

“Kiyo!!” Rantaro exclaimed, swiftly moving over to the now frail looking man.

“Get away from me” was the only quiet response from Korekiyo.

“Are you okay?” Rantaro worried,frowning.

“I said, get away from me” Korekiyo repeated, voice laced with malice this time.

“What did you remember? Please Kiyo.. you can tell me” Rantaro reassured, trying to comfort the distressed man. 

Korekiyo let out a sharp laugh.

“I do not wish for your sympathy. I have come to realise that I am in fact not wanted, and shouldn’t have let my hopes come so high in the first place” was Korekiyo’s cutting reply.

“Did someone say that to you? Kiyo, you are so wanted. I care for you” Rantaro replied, his voice soft. He tried to reach his hand over to place it on Korekiyo’s shoulder, but the other man dodged the hand quickly.

“Don’t touch me. Don’t put a hand on me. Just get away from me” Korekiyo declared, voice getting more desperate with every word.

“I won’t touch you” Rantaro nodded, putting his hands up. “But i’m staying right here. Take your time telling me what you need to tell me”.

Korekiyo shook his head.

“She told me she was the only one that ever cared, and I can see why. I doubt you really care for me. What is it you want from me? I have yet to figure it out” Korekiyo spat.

“Your sister was vindictive. I do not want anything from you but your company” Rantaro stated.

“Don’t ever call her a word such as vindictive” Korekiyo exclaimed, angrily.

Rantaro sighed. He didn’t wish to go against Korekiyo’s words and create an argument.

“I’ve been used and beaten by others who didn’t want me on their land. I’ve been taken advantage of by everybody. She protected me” Korekiyo continued, his voice still raised.

“She enslaved you with her, Kiyo. You know deep down it’s not right” Rantaro responded, keeping his tone even.

Korekiyo chose not to respond, instead he lifted his head up and made direct eye contact with Rantaro.

“Kiyo, you can’t scare me away or unsettle me - I’m currently looking directly into my own eyes. I just want you to be able to trust me like you did before” Rantaro stated.

Korekiyo lifted an eyebrow.

“How unsettling do you wish for me to be, Rantaro?” Korekiyo remarked. His voice was now eerily monotone. He was not releasing any emotion or expression into his tone or face. 

“What do you mean?” Rantaro asked, faltering.

“Do you really wish for me to tell you how dangerous I really am? How destructive it would be to get close to me?” Korekiyo mused, voice still betraying no emotion. 

Rantaro opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly cut off by Korekiyo.

“I have murdered countless people in cold blood, just for my darling sister” Korekiyo declared “Women deemed fit to be my sisters friends, of course”.

Rantaro froze.

“I am not somebody to be pitying. I am not somebody for you to complete your good samaritan act with” Korekiyo alleged

“How many is.. Countless?” Rantaro asked, his voice quiet.

“My goal is to reach a hundred. One hundred friends for my sister so that she has some company, just as she kept me company when she was alive” Korekiyo stated. 

Rantaro shook his head, speechless.

“You see, perhaps staying in the dark was a better fate for you Rantaro” Korekiyo voiced.

“I refuse to believe it” Rantaro claimed.

Korekiyo sighed, shoulders dropping.

“I see, so you wish to plead oblivious to my behaviour. I didn’t take you to be a murderer apologist, Rantaro” Korekiyo remarked.

There was an eerie smile on his face, behind his mask. Rantaro could sense it from how Korekiyo’s eyes crinkled.

Oh how Rantaro wished he could remove that mask so that Korekiyo and him could speak face to face, with no ways to hide emotions. 

“There must be more behind this.. You’ve been beaten and abused.. I can’t imagine that you’ve actually hurt people like this” Rantaro argued angrily.

Korekiyo raised an eyebrow yet again.

“More behind this? Yes indeed, I was also harmed in my past - but that doesn’t change the reason why I killed those women. My only motive for doing so was my sister, not my abuse” Korekiyo disclosed.

“Your sister controlled every aspect of your life! She brainwashed you into thinking you loved her!” Rantaro angrily objected.

“You have no right to say what she did to me!” Korekiyo expressed, raising his voice yet again.

Rantaros anger grew at how he just couldn’t see the emotion on Korekiyo’s face, due to that stupid mask Tsumugi had made him. The stupid mask that Korekiyo wore. The mask that probably gave Korekiyo underlying memories of his sister. 

“You must be disgusted that your body is hosting a vindictive being such as me” Korekiyo spat.

This was enough for Rantaro.

He angrily grabbed the side of korekiyos mask - where it was attached by the ears - and pulled it off.

Korekiyo stood still for a moment, in utter shock.

“Kiyo, look at me. You don’t need to be controlled by her anymore” Rantaro announced.

And with that, he moved forward without even thinking. Nothing passed through his brain in that moment other than pure adrenaline and raw anger at this whole situation.

He moved forward until there was no space left, and pressed his lips onto Korekiyos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.. that happened.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back!! Hello! I know my break wasn’t actually that long but it felt like a while to me if I am being honest. My joint pains are still up and kicking but I’m managing. I actually wrote this while on board a plane so I must admit my mind kind of shot out all the words without thinking.. I hope it made a type of sense.

Rantaros brain was foggy. His mind hadn’t even processed the action he just took. Korekiyo was tensed against him and Rantaro felt hands against his chest, as if the other man was steadying himself.

Rantaro shakily pulled away, looking Korekiyo straight in his face.. or well.. his own face. If kissing Korekiyo on absolute whim wasn’t bad enough, he kissed Korekiyo while he was in Rantaros body. 

Rantaro hadn’t realised that Korekiyo’s lips were covered in a veil of crimson lipstick. Where had he gotten that from? Rantaro realised he hadn’t seen the man without his mask since they first switched bodies, had Korekiyo been wearing lipstick under the mask like that for a while?

While Rantaro was left in his train of thought, Korekiyo had doubled over on the floor - slumped against the wall with shaky, weak legs trying to balance him up. His hands were grabbing his hair and scalp aggressively, as if he was trying to punish himself.

“Kiyo! I’m so so sorry.. are you okay?” Rantaro fretted. His brain hadn’t even stopped on the idea that Korekiyo may have hated that kiss.

Korekiyo had made it clear that he didn’t want Rantaro near him or touching him. If Rantaro’s heart wasn’t thumping in his chest, and if he wasn’t terrified of what would happen next, Rantaro would almost find the situation comedic. His first reaction to Korekiyo being a proclaimed murderer was to kiss him. 

Korekiyo hadn’t responded to Rantaro or even shown any signs of having heard him. Korekiyo had his hands buried deep in the light green hair, pulling so hard that it almost hurt Rantaro to just see it happen in front of him.

Rantaro put his hand on Korekiyo arm. This seemingly snapped Korekiyo out whatever was going through his head and he looked up at the man above him. Korekiyos pupils kept dilating, and it almost seemed like he was fighting an internal battle.

“She..” is all Korekiyo could manage to spot out before he slumped against the wall again, limp.

“Kiyo!” Rantaro exclaimed, now placing both hands on Korekiyos arms to steady the man underneath him. 

Korekiyos eyes snapped open.. this time with a completely new look inside them. Korekiyos whole face morphed into a eerie grin.

“I see” Korekiyo mused, staring at Rantaros hands. Korekiyo stretched his hands In front of him - as if to check himself out.

Korekiyos whole demeanour had changed. Something was wrong.

“Are you okay?” Rantaro worried, moving his hands away but making sure that he could react quickly in any case of Korekiyo passing out again.

“Though I feel the question is not aimed at me directly, I feel as fresh as a daisy” Korekiyo said, voice higher and more eloquent than usual.

“You.. you don’t look quite so fresh..” Rantaro replied, giving a forced chuckle.

“Hm. I guess not. You see, you disgracefully ruined my perfectly applied lipstick. It took me a while to teach Korekiyo how to do it so that it covered the lips fully” Korekiyo pointed out, putting a finger to his lips as to illustrate a point.

“Wait.. I’m not following” Rantaro stated, frowning.

“Oh, have I not given myself a proper introduction? How very rude of me. I am indeed my dear Korekiyos sister” Korekiyo (his sister??) declared, putting a hand out as if she wanted to shake hands with Rantaro.

Rantaros eyes widened and he stepped back quickly.

“This is Insane” he muttered. Despite its absolute craziness, Rantaro couldn’t help but believe he was indeed talking to Korekiyos sister. The way that she carried herself.. the way of speech that sounded different.. the Internal struggle Korekiyo had been going through before. It made sense. Korekiyo wasn’t one to pull a practical joke of this caliber on Rantaro.

“Hmm.. you seem afraid. It has been a while since I’ve been channeled into Korekiyo, so I’m not all too suprised.” Korekiyo... Korekiyo’s sister.. noted. She flexed her fingers as to test their movement. “It’s less than desired to be stuck in.. this.. body however”.

“Well, we don’t quite get a choice in the matter” Rantaro responded harshly. 

“What are you doing? How are you channeled here? Aren’t you like.. you know..” Rantaro trailed off.

“Unfortunately I do not know” Korekiyos sister replied, smiling way too calmly to the point is was slightly terrifying. 

“Aren’t you dead?” Rantaro finished.

“Oh dear. Indeed I am! Luckily I have such a wonderful brother who allowed me to co-share his body and mind.. in a way. Isn’t he a dear!” Korekiyos sister exclaimed delightedly.

“This isn’t possible in normal circumstances” Rantaro frowned.

“Nothing about much of this is normal” Korekiyos sister stated.

“Yeah I get that but.. ugh.. are you part of some kind of system or is this like a whole ass spirit summoning or what” Rantaro asked. He couldn’t care less of his sentences started sounding rude or less than complete, he doubted the person infront of him really minded. 

“Nothing of that sort. My dearest calls upon me for help when he’s under distress, isn’t that sweet!” Korekiyos sister gushed. 

“So you must be some sort of tulpa” Rantaro muttered. That gave him much more room to think. 

Korekiyo must’ve tried calling upon his sister once the impact of the flashlight had set in. Rantaro had then emerged and shocked Korekiyo even more, giving his sister just enough panic to take control. 

Rantaros kiss must’ve taken Korekiyo so offguard that he easily lost control of his mind and body and his sister took it as a call for help.. or something of that sort.

Rantaro was no expert in this. He just wanted his friend back.

“Korekiyo... can you still hear me?” Rantaro tried, calling out.

Korekiyos sister raised an eyebrow.

“Please, if you can give me any kind of signal” Rantaro begged. He was aware his voice sounded genuinely desperate.

The body infront of him let out a little jerky movement, before Korekiyos sister tried to cover it up as much as possible.

“He can hear me” Rantaro exclaimed.

“Of course. I just happen to have control at this moment.” Korekiyos sister stated. “You sure are causing problems for me”.

Rantaro took a step closer.

“Korekiyo. Try take control of your mind” Rantaro continued. “For me. Please”.

There was a sharp laugh from the body in front of Rantaro.

“You are aware that he will never love another. He belongs to me” Korekiyos sister exclaimed. 

The body slumped down slightly. There was certainly a struggle happening internally. 

“He killed for me. He loved me. He appreciated me. You will not take that away!” Korekiyos sister spat, raising her voice.

“You’re am evil manipulative person, that’s what you are. Korekiyo doesn’t and will never love you” Rantaro retorted. 

A strangled cry came from the sister and she placed her hand against the wall.

“How dare you! You don’t know a thing about us!” She screamed.

Shakily she started to stand herself up and Rantaro took steps backwards, sensing a violent intent. Rantaro would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified. His heart was beating so quickly that it was a surprise it hadn’t broken out of his body. 

“You will not come between us. I will not allow him to get feelings for another!” She gasped, struggling.

Rantaro wanted to point out that he was never planning on making Korekiyo fall in love with him - Honestly , Rantaro had no grasp over his own feelings about Korekiyo - but something in the back of his mind told him this would make no difference to the situation. 

It was awful to see his own face contorted in so much anger in front of him. It added salt to the wound. 

Korekiyos sister took more shaky steps towards Rantaro, and he replied by taking more steps back. 

Korekiyos sister was yelling mindlessly now. There was no doubt in her stance that she wished to be violent.

Rantaro was trapped. There was nowhere safe around him to go, and if he left the room who knew what would happen. There was no way he was letting Korekiyos sister around the school alone.

Rantaro felt faint and terrified.

“Kiyo. Please” Rantaro pressed, trying his best to be heard.

Korekiyos sister let out what seemed to be a mix between a growl and a shout. 

“Kiyo. Korekiyo Shinguji. Take control. I’m begging you” Rantaro pushed on. 

Rantaro was now in very close proximity with Korekiyos sister and it was getting dangerous.

Korekiyos sister grabbed some of Rantaros long hair and dragged it down so Rantaro fell onto the floor with a thump.

Rantaro quietly let out a little “ouch..” noise, before bracing himself for what may be another attack. 

As Rantaro looked up he saw the body above him twitching. It was a horrifying sight that made Rantaro want to be sick.

“YOU BITCH. HOW DARE YOU PUT KOREKIYO THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN” Rantaro yelled (which now all things considered is certainly not an amazing idea).

Korekiyos sister lunged once again, arm poised to hit Rantaro square in the face. 

Something was holding her back though... she was struggling to land the hit.

Korekiyos sister stumbled back, away from Rantaro. Rantaro watched as the person infront of him shook and tumbled.

Then the body stopped moving and dropped to the floor. Slowly, shaking hands clutched the fabric of the shirt Korekiyo had put on that morning. 

Rantaro took a slow step forward to make sure everything was okay as It seemed the aggressive aura had left. Rantaro was greeted with the noise of a choked sob.

Sure enough, tears were streaming down Korekiyos unmasked face. Lipstick was smudged everywhere and the light but careful mascara and eyeliner that had been applied that morning was dripping everywhere. Rantaro found it even more pitiful with the fact it was his own face.. he could probably never get over that. 

Korekiyo looked like a broken man.

Rantaro properly stepped over to him and say himself on the floor next to him.

“Kiyo.. hey” Rantaro said quietly.

Korekiyo looked directly at him but responded only with a hard swallow and another sob that he tried to muffle.

Instead of saying anything else, Rantaro wrapped his arms around Korekiyo and pulled him into an embrace. The usually stoic and strong-minded man shrunk into the touch.

Rantaro had no idea how long the two of them sat on the floor, crying and hugging, but by the end the two of them had let out all the emotions that had pushed down since the start of the killing game, and boy was it great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was emotional. I must apologise if my Rantaro is slightly more out of character this chapter, I’m currently on a Homestuck hyperfixation and the only thing my brain can think of is Davekat so I may be projecting some of that into that. Ah well, hope you enjoyed!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dissapears for two weeks and comes back, giving you an entirely new POV*. I apologise for any errors that may occur this chapter, I pulled an all nighter and wrote this at 6am as I got a sudden burst of motivation.

Now, let me ask you.

What words would you possibly associate with a killing game? 

I am going to assume that ‘peace’ and ‘working together’ were definitely not at the top of your list. 

Well, for Angie Yonaga, those words happened to be right up there on the wonderful list of words to describe this killing game. She’s always been quite a ‘Glass half full’ kind of girl so it may not come as too much of a surprise, but still an odd outlook to the position her and the other students were in.

The students have all been trapped in the school for a while now. Of course, nobody knows the exact amount of time, but they’ve tried to keep a rough estimate. There have been multiple .. freakouts.. (as Angie wishes to call them) during the period of time they have been stuck there, but Angie believes that there is always hope as a death has yet to occur.

The students even have labs now! Angies lab happened to open up randomly one day and Angie was delighted. She had a whole art studio to herself now, where she could lose herself in her paintings while also partaking in simple chitchat with Tsumugi. Tsumugi had taken very well to Angies sweet optimistic outlook, and found herself sitting with the artist willingly every day. 

Angie had insisted to open a school council to create some order and peace for this disaster of a situation they were all in. They would sit and talk, giving eachother little nuggets of advice for whatever small problems they may have. 

Angie had always been very religious, so she allowed to voice of Atua lead her along the right way. She tried her very best to pump everybody up and spread the wise words her God was feeding to her. 

She was the epitome of a bubbly, loud motivator, and while many of the girls - especially Tsumugi, kaede and himiko - had dearly taken to her.. others had not so much. Others saw her as overbearing. They didn’t want a small girl to dictate what they should do , even if Atua was guiding her through it all.

So, to put it straight, she had the equal amount of haters as she did fans.

And usually, this wouldn’t mean all too much... but this is a killing game we are talking about. Small feelings of anger build up and up and then explode.

Angie was blissfully unaware of anybody that may be slightly miffed at her. She went along with her day giggling and greeting everybody. 

“Nyahah!! Good morning Himiko, Tenko!!” Angie bubbled, skipping into the dining room. Tsumugi followed the girl timidly , rushing to keep up with the other. 

The mage gave a enthusiastic nod (which is extremely rare for the former redhead, the girl took pride in lacking energy). Tenko glanced over at Angie but chose not to respond. 

Angie took no notice and continued her rounds. 

“Ryoma!! Kaito!!” Angie waved down across the room. If she was any more energetic with her waving- her arm may as well pop out of the socket.

The two men gave a small smile and reciprocated the wave. Kaito seemed to be struggling reaching up towards a cabinet so Angie bounded towards him, ever eager to help.

“Oh! Kaito! You seem to be having trouble!” Angie exclaimed. The now short boy winced slightly.

“Still adjusting to the new height” Kaito explained. Ryoma gave a small chuckle and flexed his fingers.

“Oh my! I can help you reach whatever you want!” Angie offered, clasping her hands together. 

“Uh.. I’m good I think. Ryoma will probably help me. Or I can... climb up?” Kaito stated, tone doubtful at the end. “Yeah, I can lift my leg onto the top of the cabinet to reach up there”.

Ryoma quickly reached over and grabbed Kaito’s desired item, handing it over to him.

Kaito muttered some less than friendly words while Ryoma high fived himself proudly. 

Huh, Angie thought, at least the two are helping eachother! 

From the corner of her eye, Angie noticed Shuichi pulling Kokichi along by the neck of the black jacket he was wearing. Or, well, Shuichi’s old black jacket. Kokichi seemed to be kicked and pushing himself away - but Shuichi’s grip was not faltering.

Angie immediately ran over their way to inspect the happenings.

“STOP MANHANDLING ME” Kokichi wailed, arms flailing.

“Then stop being an idiot” Shuichi sighed.

“Hey, hey, hey. Boys! No fighting! What’s happening?” Angie demanded.

“Kokichi keeps knocking things over” Shuichi stated groaning.

“Nuh-uh!! Those things were on the floor already! It’s a wrong place wrong time scenario” Kokichi pouted.

“Thats a lie and you know it” Shuchi replies.

Angie observed the two boys. You know what.. perhaps it would be better if she let them deal with their situation on their own....

Which reminds her!! Kirumi and Miu must still be in their room, as well as Korekiyo and Rantaro! 

Angie made a mental note to check up on them later and make sure they are doing well. She had heard that Korekiyo had fallen ill as of late, at least that’s what Rantaro told her! Rantaro had been adamant that he could look after Korekiyo on his own , though, so Angie left him at it. It wouldn’t hurt to make sure they were okay though.

Lastly, Kiibo and Gonta sat at the side , deep in discussion. There seemed to be photos of bugs layed out on their table.

Oh, of course! Kiibo took photos of all the bugs in the gardens for Gonta with his inbuilt camera function! It’s wonderful to see them bond like this!

With everybody accounted for Angie took a look at Tsumugi ,who had been trailing after the energetic artist the whole time. Poor Tsumugi seemed like she needed a little break, so Angie offered for them both to sit down and finally eat some breakfast.

Mornings always past quickly. After checking on everybody it became routine for Angie to paint a bit to calm her mind - and with the new lab open it was perfect! 

Tsumugi sat down at a small stool next to the canvas Angie was focusing on and watched intently.

“Oh! The girl has blue hair just like mine! Well.. like mine used to be” Tsumugi noticed, gesturing to the painting Angie was blocking the Colors in for.

“Mhm! I was inspired by you! Or well... me now I guess!” Angie confirmed, nodding.

Tsumugi gave a smile and watched as the layers of acrylic were blocked over eachother, Colors now starting to mesh slightly. The girl in the painting was more distinctly looking like Tsumugi now.

“‘Mugi, can I ask ya something?” Angie said, not breaking concentration from her painting.

Tsumugi hummed in confirmation.

“What’s your opinion on this killing game and the whole mastermind thing? You’re a smart person and I wanna know your opinion” Angie asked.

Tsumugi stayed quiet, so Angie ended up looking over at the girl perched near her. Tsumugi’s expression was thoughtful, if not a little worried. 

“It’s.. scary. The idea that somebody could orchestrate an idea so crazy like a killing game and actually manage to trap us in here, not to mention switch our bodies.” Tsumugi finally revealed.

Angie nodded.

“I get what you mean entirely. It seems like something fictional! At least the mastermind picked me a nice person to switch with” Angie considered.

“Ah.. well. I’m sure you could’ve done better. I’m glad you are happy with what you got, though” Tsumugi replied, giving a small sheepish smile.

“Nah! I think I got the best! Wouldn’t want to be short like Himiko or dressed like Miu!” Angie chuckled.

Tsumugi gave a wider smile and placed her elbows on her knees, resting her face on her hands. 

It was nice like this. Angie loved it. Her painting while Tsumugi watched. The small chatter filled up a lot of time but the silence was always comfortable too.

See, the best can be brought out of the worst! 

That happened to be Angies thought process on the matter, anyway! 

Kirumi and Miu had emerged from their rooms by the afternoon. Angie gave them an excited greeting and they returned it, though with slightly less vigour. 

Ryoma had forgiven Kirumi a few days ago and it had been a pretty emotional moment. Ryoma had taken a look at Kirumis tear stained face while she was apologising profusely to him and he forgave her on the spot. He had selflessly stated that he no longer wished to hold it against her - though it “hurt like a bitch” (in his exact words, Angie recalled). 

Since Rantaro and Korekiyo were the only ones who hadn’t made an appearance that day, Angie decided to check on them. Angie bounded to their room, with Tsumugi in tow , and knocked loudly on their door. 

Rantaro opened the door slowly and peeked his head outside. The long dark green hair he had was badly dishevelled and he just looked very tired.

“Oh dear! You look awful!” Angie gasped 

Rantaro raised a brow.

“Long night” He stated.

Angie pushed him aside and bounded into the room, spotting Korekiyo sprawled across a bed.

“Jesus Christ..” Rantaro muttered. Apparently Angies abundance of energy was sucking something out of him.

“Nyahah! Sadly I’m not Jesus, I’m Angie!! And it’s time for you sleepyheads to get out of the room!” Angie declared. 

Korekiyo looked up at Angie. His face was swollen and blotchy.

“Kiyo!! Have you been crying?” Angie gasped, running over to him.

Korekiyo widened his eyes and buried his face back into the duvet he was lying on.

“Emotions aren’t anything to be embarrassed by!” Angie stated, trying her very best to console him.

“Uh.. Angie.. I know you mean all well but he went through something kinda traumatic lately, not to mention he’s still not feeling the best” Rantaro revealed slowly.

Angie gasped again and covered her mouth with her hands.

“I’m so so sorry!! I totally forgot!! Take all the time you need!” Angie apologised.

She walked back over to the door, where Tsumugi was hovering , and closed the door behind the two of them to leave Korekiyo and Rantaro alone.

What she didn’t see as she closed the door was the bemused expressions both men exchanged, as well as a small laughing fit afterwards at Angies absurd actions. Angie wasn’t aware, but her funny entrance put them in a good enough mood to move on and leave their room. 

Angie had chosen to continue residing in her art lab. She had made sure everybody was okay and therefore could comfortably continue her painting. 

The painting was of a girl with blue hair and glasses staring longingly across an empty plane. Tsumugi had questioned why she was just staring at an empty area of land , but Angie was quick to explain.

“It’s just.. she wants to imagine she’s somewhere simple, somewhere easy. Life is too hard and stressful at the moment. She wishes to escape. Perhaps escape the place she is... escape herself, escape what she created” Angie clarified.

Tsumugi stared up at the painting in silence, Hand hovering over where her painted double stood. 

“Yeah... I like that” Tsumugi mumbled with a small smile. 

Tsumugi had to step out of the room to get a drink after approximately an hour or two. Angie nodded and relayed all her concentration to her canvas. The two of them were aware of the ‘never split up’ rule, but people had been splitting up a lot lately. Tsumugi getting some water wouldn’t cause a massive problem to the system, so Angie continued her art like normal. 

Whenever Angie paints, she cannot focus on anything but the paint and the strokes the brush makes. Any noises, any person.. they don’t exist to her. She’s buried in her own wonderful world, which many used to admire her for. 

But.. Perhaps, If she had noticed small noises, she may have helped herself. 

it was all too late when she had finally snapped out and noticed something was very wrong.

All Angie could see was a bloodied floorboard, and the world blacking out as she fell to the floor. 

an unfamiliar chime rang out throughout the halls.

.. "A body has been discovered!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :(...


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok holy shit its been 2 months... Life has been crazy and im hyperfixated on homestuck so even thinking about danganronpa is a chore, Buuuut i promised i would finish this and i keep my promises so i shall slave it out, bare with me my dudes! It may be a slow process but im gonna do it no matter what.

Time seemed to stop. All the hallways were uncharacteristically quiet as everybody all around tried to take in the sudden announcement… until a shrill scream rang out.

Nobody was quite sure who moved first. Shuichi ran out of the room he had holed himself in, dragging Kokichi by the sleeve, and ran headfirst into a frantic Kaede, who had Maki trailing along.

“Somebody died?” Kaede exclaimed, overwhelmed.

Shuichi gave a small panicked nod.

A small hum was heard from Kokichi, who had his brow furrowed.

“Wonder who the unlucky guy was…” the supreme leader pondered.

Maki grunted and marched down the hallway, presumably to look for the body. Kaede and the others followed after.

Finding the body proved to not be a hard feat. There were sounds of frantic and erratic sobbing coming from Angie's art studio.

Nobody wished to voice their fears that Angie may have been the one affected.

Their fears had been confirmed however, as Kaede pushed open the studio door. Kaedes blood ran cold in a matter of seconds. 

A deceased Angie lay sprawled out on the floor. There was a thick pool of blood around her skull and the blue hair of hers that had previously belonged to Tsumugi was coated in the horrible substance. Tsumugi was on her knees next to Angie, holding Angie's lifeless hand in hers.

The thing even worse than the dead body on the floor was the noises of pain leaving Tsumugi's mouth. Her half-choked sobs being stifled by hiccups and distressed mumbles.

“Angie.. Angie! Angie please. Please get up. Please” Tsumugi bawled, pulling on Angie's hand.  
“She’s cold.. Her bodies cold. Angie. Please. For me..” Tsumugi tried, desperately.

More people had began to gather at the studios door, watching this despairing scene displayed in front of them.

Slowly, Korekiyo walked over to Tsumugi and crouched next to Angie’s body as well - inspecting the corpse.

“I can’t believe we’ve lost somebody..” Korekiyo stated, a clear frown on his face.

Tsumugi let out another choked sob.

Miu pushed past the crowd at the door to also step inside the studio. She looked down at the body, an unreadable emotion on her face.

“Shit.. this is so fucked up” Miu remarked.

“Thank you, Sherlock” Kokichi called out, stepping inside next to the inventor. 

Miu frowned at Kokichi and stepped back again.

“One of us here.. Did this?” Tenko asked, fretfully.

Everyone stared at each other suspiciously.

“I refuse to believe it.” Kiibo stated.  
“You better believe it. Nobody broke into this school just to kill Angie” Miu replied.

A silence fell over the students. Everyone had now found the scene and nobody knew what to do next.

“I hate to ask such a thing after such an awful event like Angie’s death, but what about our bodies? Were we not meant to switch after a death?” Kirumi voiced.

Others began to nod in agreement and confusion.

“Maybe it takes like.. Time?” Kaito wondered.

“Nope!” A shrill mechanic voice declared from behind all the gathered students. Everybody collectively flinched at the familiar and unwelcome voice, yet they all turned to face the bear.

“You guys will indeed switch back… after the trial! So you better get searching for evidence if you want your bodies back!” Monokuma announced, a small terrifying smile plastered on his robotic bear face.

“What about mine?” Tsumugi called out, voice still hoarse from her previous crying.

“You’ll get your body back good as new, dontcha worry!” Monokuma assured “Now that I've told you that small detail, I'll head off now. Go find some evidence! Chop chop!”.

True to his word, monokuma disappeared off as fast as he came, leaving the group in shocked silence once more.

“Guess that’s.. Good news..” Shuichi remarked slowly.

Some nodded while others looked at the floor. 

“As much as i’d hate to say it, we should now start to investigate the body and crime scene. It won’t help us if we have no evidence to present at this trial we are having” Rantaro suggested. Shuichi hummed in agreement.

“Right. Let's look around in our teams… Tsumugi, join me and Maki” Kaede stated, looking over at the cosplayer with sympathy.

Tsumugi got up from her position on the floor and nodded.

“We better find this killer”.

“I can't even believe that somebody actually died. I thought that it would never happen” Rantaro mused, exploring the hallway outside the studio for any clues. 

“It was a brutal action, I must admit.” Korekiyo commented.

The two boys had taken camp on all the hallways near the scene, in the case that the killer dropped anything while fleeing.

“Why was Tsumugi not there to stop the killer, I wonder” Rantaro voiced, frowning.

“That is a good point. I find it difficult to believe she was the one who killed Angie but there was certainly something suspicious in that” Korekiyo replied. “Perhaps it may have been nothing at all, or something crucial to the case. We have to ask”. 

Rantaro nodded.

“We can do so when everyone joins back again. I'm gonna assume Shuichi had the same thought as he’s the detective” Rantaro responded “This is harder than I thought, I can’t find anything around..”.

“Perhaps there may not be anything around, do not be hard on yourself” Korekiyo reminded.

Rantaro gave a small appreciative smile and looked over at the anthropologist.

“I'm gonna be really glad to get my body back, man. It’ll also be better to not have to see myself everytime I look at you... ah, I'm not even sure. This whole body swap thing feels like an awful dream.” Rantaro chuckled, bringing a hand to play with the long hair he still had. 

Korekiyo raised an eyebrow but still gave a small smile in agreement. 

“Anyway, I'm gonna head out of this hallway and look elsewhere, I think. There’s nothing here” Rantaro observed.

“I’ve also found nothing” Korekiyo agreed, he gestured for Rantaro to move down the hallway in an ‘after you’ motion.

Rantaro gave a chuckle and made his way down the hallway, with Korekiyo trailing close behind. At Least they had each other.

Time passed too quickly. Before long all the students were ushered together to get to the long awaited trial. Nobody even dared say a word as they all piled into a large elevator and were set on their way.

As the elevator stopped , everybody stepped off with bated breath. They stepped into the blue tinted trial room and took their places at their named podiums. The tension was strong and there was an obvious sense of fear pulsing through everybody. 

Monokuma sat perched at his throne at the far end of the cool-toned room, where he could look over the podiums and watch the fearful students. 

“Aaaand, the Trial may commence! Place your evidence, do what you wish.. Have fun!” Monokuma stated excitedly, banging his robot fists onto his armrest.

The silence continued. Nobody wished to be the first one to state a piece of evidence.

“Come on already!” Monokuma exclaimed.

Shuichi cleared his throat.

“Alright. Let’s start.” He stated.

Everybody visibly relaxed. They were glad that somebody had spoken before them.

“Let’s all give whatever evidence we may have found, and then we can figure this out” Shuichi continued, hands gripping his podium. 

“Gonta found lots of blood!” Gonta called out, hands spread out wide to gesture how much he saw.

“What Gonta means is that we saw blood spattered in the room, presumably from Angie hitting the floor” Kiibo explained.

“Well no shit there was lots of blood” Miu exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “Welcome to the murder case!”.

“Guys. not helping.” Shuichi remarked.

Korekiyo felt his eyes fall on Rantaro, who was scanning the other students.

“Well, we found some stuff! Didn’t we Saihara-chan?” Kokichi claimed, voice an excited lilt.

Shuichi looked over at Kokichi and nodded.

“We found a critical piece of evidence near the crime scene, just outside the door” Shuichi responded. The detective had a dejected look on his face.

Everybody looked over expectantly.

“There was a strand of long, green hair just near the door” Shuichi informed.

Korekiyo felt his heart go still.

“So. Rantaro, Himiko, as you are the only ones carrying a body with long green hair… would you care to give an alibi?”

**Author's Note:**

> For any confusion that may take place, these are the switches. Mostly these are random pairings and people i think would be hilarious to see switched. 
> 
> Rantaro = korekiyo  
> Kaede = maki  
> Tsumugi = Angie  
> Himiko = Tenko  
> Kirumi = Miu  
> Kokichi = Shuichi  
> Gonta = Kiibo  
> Kaito = Ryoma


End file.
